China; U.S. Uses ‘Indiscriminate’ Force Over Balloon

February 6, 2023 4:09 am

BEIJING (AP) — China has accused the United States of indiscriminate use of force when the American military shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon Saturday, saying it seriously impacted and damaged both sides’ progress in stabilizing Sino-U.S. relations. Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng said he lodged a formal complaint with the U.S. Embassy over the use of military force on the balloon. Xie repeated China’s insistence that the balloon was a Chinese civil unmanned airship that blew into the U.S. by mistake. He called the U.S. response an overreaction that “seriously violated the spirit of international law.”