China FIRES its weather service chief as it doubles down on claim spy balloon seen over Montana nuclear base was blown off course monitoring the weather – as American recovery efforts for wreckage begin off South Carolina coast
- Zhuang Guotai, the head of the China Meteorological Administration, was fired on Sunday, according to reports
- The Chinese foreign ministry said that shooting the balloon down on Saturday was ‘clearly an overreaction that seriously violates international practice’
- The United States is now attempting to recover the debris from the balloon from off the coast of South Carolina
China fired its top meteorologist on Sunday, as the fallout from the spy balloon saga continues, and efforts to recover the downed balloon were ongoing off the coast of South Carolina.
Joe Biden on Saturday ordered that F22 fighters shoot the balloon out of the sky, as soon as it passed the coast and headed out to see.
Pentagon chiefs warned Biden against shooting it down over land, arguing that the debris could cause damage to property and risk lives.
On Sunday afternoon, footage shared on social media showed fragments of the balloon being brought ashore by officials.
It will be taken to Quantico, Virginia for analysis.
Fragments of the balloon are seen being brought ashore on Sunday in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Zhuang Guotai, the head of the China Meteorological Administration, has been removed from his position, it emerged on Sunday. China insists the ‘spy balloon’ was nothing more than a weather balloon that blew off course
China reacted angrily on Sunday to the decision.
‘For the U.S. to insist on using armed force is clearly an overreaction that seriously violates international practice,’ the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement.
Beijing threatened that it ‘reserved the right to take further actions in response’.
The country continues to insist that the balloon was simply a weather-monitoring device, which was blown off course.
Zhuang Guotai, the head of the China Meteorological Administration, has been removed from his position, The Daily Telegraph reported on Sunday.
The balloon was struck by a missile from an F-22 fighter just off Myrtle Beach, fascinating sky-watchers across a populous area known as the Grand Strand for its miles of beaches that draw retirees and vacationers.
Boxes are seen being unloaded from a boat which participated in the search for the debris
The debris was spread across roughly seven miles and landed in 47 feet of water
The Chinese foreign ministry said it regretted that the balloon had mistakenly entered US airspace, claiming it was a civilian craft
The balloon is seen being shot out of the sky on Saturday afternoon
Crowds gathered in neighborhoods, hotel parking lots and beaches to watch the balloon hover, with some cheering just after it went down.
The festive mood belied the seriousness of the situation, with law enforcement around the county of 366,000 warning people not to touch any debris and to instead call dispatchers.
‘Members of the US Military are coordinating to collect debris; however, fragments may make it to the coastline,’ the Horry County Police Department said in a statement.
The debris was spread across roughly seven miles and landed in 47 feet of water – shallower than officials had expected.
The balloon entered the U.S. air defense zone north of the Aleutian Islands on January 28 and moved largely over land across Alaska and then into Canadian airspace in the Northwest Territories on Monday.
A helicopter is seen on Sunday scouring the seas for debris from the balloon
A ship is seen participating in the hunt for balloon debris
Officials said the first spy balloon that traveled across the US fell six miles off the coast of South Carolina in waters about 47 feet deep
It crossed back into U.S. territory over northern Idaho on Tuesday, the day the White House said Biden was first briefed on it.
Republicans have demanded to know why Biden didn’t order the balloon be shot down sooner.
The Pentagon said it was too risky.
Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, said he did not believe the explanation.
‘It defies belief to suggest there was nowhere’ where the U.S. could have safely shot down the balloon, he said.
Chuck Schumer, the Democrat leader of the Senate, said the full Senate will get a briefing next week on the balloon, including details about its surveillance capabilities, and that the administration is considering measures against the Chinese for ‘their brazen activities.’
He said Republican criticism was political and premature, and that the U.S. had ‘sent a clear message to China that this is not acceptable.’
Antony Blinken, the Secretary of State, cancelled his planned trip to Beijing.
The trip would have made Blinken the highest-ranking official to visit China since Biden became president, and the first Secretary of State to visit in more than four years.
Beijing sought to downplay the cancellation, stressing that the visit had not been officially confirmed – a move seen as an attempt to save face, as Blinken was expected to meet with Xi Jinping, the Chinese president.
‘In actuality, the U.S. and China have never announced any visit,’ China’s foreign ministry claimed.
‘The U.S. making any such announcement is their own business, and we respect that.’
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