US Shoots Down Chinese Weather Balloon (Photos)

On Saturday, the United States downed a Chinese airship that had flown into its airspace off the coast of South Carolina.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said a fighter plane shot down the Chinese airship off the coast of South Carolina.

Austin accused China of using the balloon to monitor strategic locations in the US, adding that President Joe Biden gave the green light to shoot down the balloon last Wednesday.

Washington began the process of recovering the wreckage of the Chinese airship after it was shot down over the Atlantic Ocean.

The Associated Press (AP), reported that Biden had given the green light to shoot down the Chinese balloon.

On Saturday evening, Washington announced the closure of Charleston, Myrtle Beach, and Wilmington airports in North and South Carolina for security reasons after the Chinese airship was spotted, according to the US Federal Aviation Administration.

The administration decided to temporarily suspend flights in an area of 100 square miles over the Atlantic Ocean and on the coast of South Carolina, in addition to closing airspace in parts of North and South Carolina.

Intense activity was monitored by a number of US military aircraft along the path of the Chinese balloon, while South Carolina police warned residents not to shoot at the balloon.