China accuses US of indiscriminate use of force over spy balloon: ‘Obviously overreacted’

China has accused the US of overreaction and using indiscriminate force to shoot down a suspected surveillance balloon with the help of the American military’s F-22 fighter jets.

Condemning the “US attack on a Chinese civilian unmanned airship by military force”, Chinese vice foreign minister Xie Feng said he lodged a formal complaint with the US embassy on Sunday.

“However, the United States turned a deaf ear and insisted on indiscriminate use of force against the civilian airship that was about to leave the United States airspace, obviously overreacted and seriously violated the spirit of international law and international practice,” Mr Xie said on Monday.

The official reiterated China’s stand on the surveillance balloon floating in the US airspace and said it was a civil unmanned airship that blew into the American airspace by mistake in “an accidental incident caused by force majeure”.

Beijing will “resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies, resolutely safeguard China’s interests and dignity and reserve the right to make further necessary responses”, Mr Xie said.

The US shot down the massive white coloured balloon off the Carolina coast after it hovered over sensitive military sites across North America for a few days.

The sighting of the balloon, initially pegged as mysterious but later confirmed as a serious breach of the US airspace, delivered a knock-out punch to the already worsening US-China relations and leading to the cancellation of a high-profile visit to Beijing by secretary of state Antony Blinken this month.

The visit by a top American official – coming after years – was aimed at smoothening the ruffled ties between the two nations but was cancelled within hours of the Pentagon detecting threat to the US’s sensitive sites from the balloon.

According to the US officials, Joe Biden asked the US military officials to shoot down the balloon after he was advised that the best time for bringing it down would be when it was over water.

The military officials said that bringing down the balloon over land from an altitude of 60,000 feet (18,000m) would pose an undue risk to people on the ground.

The vice foreign minister said that the US’s actions with respect to China’s balloon have “seriously impacted and damaged efforts and progress made by both the sides for the Sino-US relations since the Bali meeting”.

Mr Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping shook hands in November at the high-level meeting in a major show of boost in diplomatic relations that plummeted to the lowest in years.

“They welcomed ongoing efforts to address specific issues in the US-China bilateral relations, and encouraged further progress in these existing mechanisms, including through joint working groups. They also noted the importance of ties between the people of the United States and the PRC,” according to a read-out by the White House issued shortly after Mr Xi and Mr Biden met.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning did not share fresh details on Monday but repeated China’s assertion that the object was a civilian balloon intended for meteorological research, had little ability to steer and entered US airspace by accidentally diverging from its course.

“We have stated that this is completely an isolated and accidental incident caused by force majeure, but the US still hyped up the incident on purpose and even used force to attack,” Ms Mao said at a daily briefing. “This is an unacceptable and irresponsible action.”