Chinese surveillance balloon damaged already deteriorating US-China ties: Mullen

Washington: The Chinese surveillance balloon that traversed through continental America for a couple of days before being shot down has damaged the already deteriorating US-China relationship, a top former American Admiral said on Sunday.

The US military on Saturday downed the balloon off the coast of South Carolina in the Atlantic Ocean and launched a mission to recover all the equipment from its debris. The US is



recovering the remnants of the 90-foot-long suspected spy balloon after an F-22 Raptor's AIM-9X missile popped it.

“I think strategically, this really damages the relationship between us and China, further damages, which is deteriorating. I think that's really the big part of this,” Admiral (rtd) Mullen, former chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told ABC news.