China threatens ‘further actions’ over US downing of suspected spy balloon
China has threatened “further actions” in response to America’s “serious overreaction” in the downing of a suspected spy balloon.
The white aircraft was shot out of the sky off the South Carolina coast on Saturday after days of intrigue, while diplomatic relations soured further between Washington and Beijing.
US President Joe Biden ordered the object be brought down, with a defence official saying it was a spy balloon that China intended to use on sensitive military sites.
But Chinese officials insisted it was a meteorological and scientific research device that had been blown off course.
‘Obvious overreaction’
In a statement on Sunday, Beijing’s foreign ministry said: “China will resolutely uphold the relevant company’s legitimate rights and interests, and at the same time reserving the right to take further actions in response.”
Mr Biden’s order was an “obvious overreaction” that “seriously violated international conventions”, it added.
The balloon was shot down by an F-22 fighter aircraft, about six nautical miles off the coast of South Carolina, near Myrtle Beach, with ships deployed in the water to mount the recovery operation.
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‘They successfully took it down’
Biden’s praise for US pilots
The US president said he had wanted the balloon shot down when it was first spotted over Billings, Montana, on Wednesday – close to a nuclear missile silo field at Malmstrom Air Force Base.
It had flown over the Aleutian Islands, off the coast of Alaska, and through Canada before entering the US.
But Mr Biden said he was advised to wait until it was over water because of the risks of falling debris.
“They successfully took it down and I want to compliment our aviators who did it,” he said on Saturday.
Ahead of the operation, flights were halted at three airports including Myrtle Beach International Airport due to a “national security effort”, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
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Some people took a seat on Myrtle Beach to watch the operation
Operation compared to ‘Top Gun’
The operation to down the balloon caught the attention of people on the ground.
Some, including local Peter Flynn, pictured above, gathered on Myrtle Beach to watch the aircraft being fired upon, while others were caught more off guard.
“I did not anticipate waking up to be in a Top Gun movie today,” said Ashlyn Preaux, who saw fighter jets circling the balloon from her home in Forestbrook, South Carolina, before it went down.
It had been flying between 60,000ft and 65,000ft.
What happens next?
US officials want to recover debris from the downed balloon, which is spread out over seven miles.
The US Coast Guard, Navy, and FBI are all involved in the recovery effort, with divers and unmanned submarines expected to comb the sea floor over the next few days.
Sky’s US correspondent Mark Stone said: “The aim will be to harvest a potential goldmine of information”, with investigators likely hoping to reconstruct the balloon’s payload and learn from it.
The row between the two superpowers over the balloon’s objective comes at a sensitive time for their relationship, which has been on rocky ground for years.
It prompted US secretary of state Antony Blinken to abruptly cancel a trip to Beijing, which would likely have taken huge amounts of diplomatic effort on both sides to organise.
At a meeting on the sidelines of a G20 summit last year, China’s President Xi Jinping had acknowledged the competition between the countries must not descend into conflict.
US
Donald Trump says Vladimir Putin wants to meet – and that he and Barack Obama ‘probably’ like each other
Donald Trump says a meeting is being set up between himself and Vladimir Putin – and that he and Barack Obama “probably” like each other.
Republican US president-elect Mr Trump spoke to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Thursday, saying Russian president Mr Putin “wants to meet, and we are setting it up”.
“He has said that even publicly and we have to get that war over with. That’s a bloody mess,” Mr Trump said.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Friday there was a “mutual desire” to set up a meeting – but added no details had been confirmed yet and that there may be progress once Mr Trump is inaugurated on 20 January.
“Moscow has repeatedly declared its openness to contacts with international leaders, including the US president, including Donald Trump,” Mr Peskov added.
“What is required is a mutual desire and political will to conduct dialogue and resolve existing problems through dialogue. We see that Mr Trump also declares his readiness to resolve problems through dialogue. We welcome this. There are still no specifics, we proceed from the mutual readiness for the meeting.”
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in July 2017. Pic: AP
Trump on Obama: ‘We just got along’
Mr Trump also made some lighter remarks regarding a viral exchange between himself and former Democrat President Barack Obama at Jimmy Carter’s funeral on Thursday.
The pair sat together for the late president’s service in Washington DC on Thursday, and could be seen speaking for several minutes as the remaining mourners filed in before it began.
Mr Obama was seen nodding as his successor spoke before breaking into a grin.
Asked about the exchange, Mr Trump said: “I didn’t realise how friendly it looked.
“I said, ‘boy, they look like two people that like each other’. And we probably do.
“We have a little different philosophies, right? But we probably do. I don’t know. We just got along. But I got along with just about everybody.”
The amicable exchange comes after years of criticising each other in the public eye; it was Mr Trump who spread the so-called “birther” conspiracy theory about Mr Obama in 2011, falsely asserting that he was not born in the United States.
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Insults continued for years, with Mr Obama famously dedicating much of his final White House Correspondents’ Dinner speech in 2016 to jokes at his political rival’s expense.
Mr Trump has repeatedly attacked the Obamas, saying the former president was “ineffective” and “terrible” and calling former first lady Michelle Obama “nasty” as recently as October last year.
On Kamala Harris’s campaign trail last year, Mr Obama said Mr Trump was a “78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago”, while the former first lady said that “the consequences of him ever being president again are brutally serious.”
“He was asleep in his bed, where he still is right now, as I wait on the coroner.”
The haunting words of Kimiko Nickerson stopped us in our tracks.
Her father Rodney, 82, was sure the fire wouldn’t reach his home in Altadena. He was wrong.
The inferno cut through this quiet suburb north of Los Angeles at an alarming rate, its path unpredictable.
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She said: “He just didn’t want to evacuate. He’s been living here since 1968, and he’s been in Altadena my whole life.
“Like all of us on this block, in four blocks, he didn’t think it was going to be this devastating.
“It jumped whole streets, and it hit this community, but it didn’t touch the mountainside at all.”
They’re still trying to process the apocalyptic scenes here and grieving for those who did not get out.
Kimiko said: “I have no words to explain my feelings at this point in time.
“I’m just silent and numb and just mentally trying to go through the process.”
Rodney Nickerson decided not to leave his Altadena home.
Pic: Kimiko Nickerson
‘Truly apocalyptic scenes’ as flames swallow homes in LA wildfires evacuation zone
It would be impossible to exaggerate the scale of the destruction, cars burnt to a cinder, palm trees still alight, powerlines strewn across roads.
So many people have lost the roof over their head but there’s one thing Kimiko says she’ll never lose – her memories.
“Every laugh, every joke he told.
“He was a smart man. He read the LA Times from cover to cover and walked around the Rose Bowl every day.
“He was healthy, he was ambitious… but he went to sleep and died in his bed back there.”
The US Supreme Court has rejected a last-ditch attempt by Donald Trump to delay sentencing in the Stormy Daniels hush money case.
The president-elect was convicted on 34 counts last May in New York of falsifying business records relating to payments made to Ms Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.
Prosecutors claimed he had paid her $130,000 (£105,300) in hush money to not reveal details of what Ms Daniels said was a sexual relationship in 2006.
Mr Trump has denied any liaison with Ms Daniels or any wrongdoing.
By a majority, the Supreme Court found his sentencing would not be an insurmountable burden during the presidential transition since the presiding judge, Juan M Merchan, has indicated he will not give Mr Trump jail time, fines or probation.
Mr Trump’s attorneys argued that evidence used in the Manhattan trial violated last summer’s Supreme Court ruling giving Mr Trump broad immunity from prosecution over acts he took as president.
At the least, they said, the sentencing should be delayed while their appeals play out to avoid distracting Mr Trump during the presidential transition.
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Stormy Daniels. Pic: AP
Mr Trump’s attorneys went to the justices after New York courts refused to postpone sentencing.
Judges in New York found that the convictions related to personal matters rather than Mr Trump’s official acts as president.
Mr Trump’s attorneys called the case politically motivated, and they said sentencing him now would be a “grave injustice” that threatens to disrupt the presidential transition as the Republican prepares to return to the White House.
Mr Trump has said he will appeal again: “I respect the court’s opinion – I think it was actually a very good opinion for us because you saw what they said, but they invited the appeal and the appeal is on the bigger issue. So, we’ll see how it works out,” he said at a dinner with Republican governors at his private club in Florida.
Because the New York case was a state, rather than federal crime, Mr Trump will not be able to pardon himself when he takes office on 20 January.
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