The US sent divers to salvage what they believe is spy equipment from the Chinese balloon shot down off South Carolina, as pressure mounted on President Joe Biden to hit back at Beijing with new export controls on sensitive technology. The government anticipates finding equipment capable of taking detailed photographs,…
ISTANBUL - China has accused Washington of "damaging" progress made in bilateral relations by use of "indiscriminate force" to shoot down the alleged spy balloon on Saturday. "China strongly opposes such behavior and urges the US not to escalate action," Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng told US diplomats based in Beijing, in a demonstration of protest against the US act. The US shot down the suspected Chinese "spy" balloon Saturday which had been spotted above US airspace off the coast of the state of South Carolina. "What the US has done has seriously impacted and damaged both sides' efforts and progress in stabilizing Sino-US relations since the Bali meeting," he said, urging the US "not to take further actions that harm China's interests, and not to escalate or expand the tension." Chinese President Xi Jinping met with his US counterpart Joe Biden in Bali, Indonesia last November where the two sides had agreed