US Says China Denied Request for Call With Pentagon Chief After Balloon Downing

A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter flies over a debris field during recovery efforts of a high-altitude surveillance balloon on Feb. 4, 2023. (U.S. Navy photo by Lt. j.g. Jerry Ireland)

The United States attempted to contact China’s communist regime after its military shot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon off the South Carolina coast on Feb. 4, but Beijing refused to take the call.

The Pentagon said on Feb. 7 that it requested a phone call between U.S. defense secretary Lloyd Austin and Chinese defense minister Wei Fenghe after the balloon downing, but the request had been turned down.

“Lines between our militaries are particularly important in moments like this. Unfortunately, the [People’s Republic of China] has declined our request,” Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement.

Ryder stated that Washington remains committed to maintaining open lines of communication with Beijing.

On Feb. 4, a U.S. F-22 fighter jet fired a missile at the balloon from an altitude of 58,000 feet near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The balloon itself was flying between 60,000 to 65,000 feet in altitude, according to a senior defense official.

PRC Explanation ‘Lacked Any Credibility’

China’s  Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the U.S. move “a clear overreaction,” claiming that the balloon was a civilian airship that had been blown off-course and posed no threat to national security.

“The airship does not belong to the U.S. It belongs to China,” spokesperson Mao Ning of the Chinese foreign ministry told reporters on Feb. 7, criticizing the United States for using force to deal with such incidents.

A senior defense official said U.S. officials spoke directly with Chinese authorities through multiple channels before the shootdown, but instead of addressing their intrusion into U.S. airspace, “the PRC put out an explanation that lacked any credibility.”

“This surveillance balloon purposely traversed the United States and Canada. And we are confident it was seeking to monitor sensitive military sites,” the official told reporters on Feb. 4.

“Its route over the United States, near many potential sensitive sites, contradicts the PRC government’s explanation that it was a weather balloon,” he added.

Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 recover a high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, S.C. on Feb. 5, 2023 (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Tyler Thompson)

The shootdown came after President Joe Biden broke the silence on the balloon, telling reporters on Feb. 4 that “we’re gonna take care of it.”

Biden said he ordered the Pentagon to shoot it down “as soon as possible” after being briefed on the intrusion on Feb. 1, but the Pentagon decided that the best time to do so without harming anyone on the ground was when the balloon was “out over water, within a 12-mile limit.”

“They successfully took it down, and I want to compliment our aviators who did it,” he said, adding that they will “have more to report on this a little later.”

Sailors are seen attempting to recover a high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, S.C., on Feb. 5, 2023. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Tyler Thompson)

Unnamed “senior government sources” told Fox News that once recovered, the balloon will be sent to the FBI’s facility in Quantico, Virginia, for further analysis. The Epoch Times has contacted the bureau for comment.

The head of NORCOM and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) on Feb. 6 said the balloon was about 200 feet in height and weighed thousands of pounds.

The balloon, described by U.S. officials as a “high altitude surveillance balloon,” was first spotted on Feb. 1 above an airfield in Montana, one of three U.S. states where the nuclear missile fields are based.

It drifted over Asheville, North Carolina, and then near Charlotte on the morning of Feb. 4.

The presence of the balloon has exacerbated the already tense relations between the United States and China and prompted U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken to postpone a planned trip to Beijing earlier this month.

A second Chinese balloon was spotted flying above Latin America on Feb. 3.

Eva Fu and Jack Phillips contributed to this report.