US President says he makes no apologies for shooting down alleged Chinese spy balloon

President Joe Biden has said he makes no apologies for shooting down an alleged Chinese spy balloon off the coast of the US. He said the balloon was used for surveillance, but three other objects shot down over North America were unlikely to be foreign spy crafts. Mr Biden also said, The US would now improve its detection of similar aerial objects and would speak with China's President Xi Jinping soon about this month's incident.

China has denied the balloon was used



for surveillance, instead saying it blew off course while collecting weather data. But Mr Biden reiterated the view of US officials that the balloon, which traversed the country at an altitude of about 40 thousand feet (12 thousand metres) before being blown out of the sky by a US fighter jet over the Atlantic, was in fact used for spying. He further said the US was continuing to speak with China on the issue as they are not looking for a new cold war.