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After weeks of questions about a Chinese spy balloon and a series of unidentified objects spotted flying in or near American airspace, the answers are coming into focus.
Here’s what we know. Chinese spy balloon recovered
The military has completed the recovery of the Chinese spy balloon shot down off the coast of South Carolina, the U.S. Northern Command said in a statement.
The Navy found and retrieved the balloon’s remnants, and are handing over the debris to the FBI. Counterintelligence experts will examine what’s left of the balloon at the FBI’s lab in Virginia.VP Harris: Chinese spy balloon ‘not helpful,’ but relationship won’t change
In an exclusive interview with NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, Vice President Kamala Harris affirmed that the Chinese spy balloon was shot down because officials were « confident » it was used by China to « spy on the American people. »
Harris said that the government’s strategy for taking down the balloon factored in risk of harming American civilians and the ability to preserve the balloon to « investigate from a forensic perspective. »
On the effects of the balloon on U.S.-China relations, Harris said that the Biden administration intends to maintain its view of the two nations’ relationship — that competition is welcome, but « conflict and confrontation » is not.
« That (relationship) is not going to change, but surely and certainly, that balloon was not helpful, which is why we shot it down, » Harris said. « But our relationship and our policy towards China remains what it has been.
