China says it reserves right to respond to downing of surveillance balloon
The balloon's flight over the U.S. added tension to the U.S.-China relationship.
A massive Chinese surveillance balloon that moved across the continental U.S. this week has been shot down.
The Pentagon has confirmed the balloon was being used for surveillance, disputing China's claim that it was a civilian aircraft used for meteorological purposes. Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said the balloon didn't pose a physical or military threat, and once it was detected, the U.S. took steps to protect against foreign intelligence collection of sensitive information.
The FBI is expected to take custody of any recovered components of the balloon and ship them to its lab in Quantico, Virginia, for analysis and intelligence gathering, a senior government official told ABC News.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed a planned trip to China as the balloon's presence over the continental U.S. added new tension to the U.S.-China relationship. Blinken called the balloon a "clear violation" of U.S. sovereignty and international law.
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FAA issues air space closure for parts of Carolinas
The Federal Aviation Administration has closed airspace in parts of North Carolina and South Carolina. All operations at Charleston, Myrtle Beach and Wilmington airports have been paused for national security initiatives.
The alerts are in effect until 2:45 p.m.
The balloon was spotted Saturday over parts of Charlotte, North Carolina, and Northern Greenville county in South Carolina.
-ABC News' Sam Sweeney
Biden on Chinese spy ballon: 'We're going to take care of it'
President Joe Biden on Saturday made his first public comments on the Chinese surveillance balloon flying over the continental U.S.
Biden, who is traveling to New York, was asked by a reporter if there were plans to shoot the balloon down.
"We're going to take care of it," he responded.
Blinken speaks with Chinese counterpart
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke on Friday with Wang Yi, the former foreign minister who has recently been elevated as China's highest ranking foreign affairs official within the party.
Xinhua News Agency posted a very brief readout of Blinken's phone call to his direct counterpart Wang Yi which appears to have taken place before Blinken postponed his trip to China.
Wang Yi said that China is a responsible country and has always strictly abided by international law and the two sides need to maintain their determination, communicate and avoid misjudgment.
The readout does not address the postponement of Blinken's trip because the Chinese government maintains that the trip was never officially announced.
"As a matter of fact, neither China nor the U.S. has announced any visits,” China said previously when addressing Blinken’s postponed trip. “It is the U.S.'s own business to release relevant information, and we respect that.”
China slams those who 'took advantage of the issue'
The Chinese Foreign Ministry posted a new statement in a form of a Q&A on their website early Saturday and slammed those taking advantage of the massive surveillance balloon.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed his upcoming trip to China, but the ministry claimed the visit had never been announced.
"As a matter of fact, neither China nor the US has announced any visits. It is the US's own business to release relevant information, and we respect that," the statement read.
They also reiterated their denial that the surveillance balloon was being used to spy on the U.S., insisting that China has always abided by international law and that the balloon deviated from its scheduled route.
"This was completely an accident caused by force majeure, and the facts are very clear," the statement continued.
The United States, elected officials and the media were also accused by the ministry of taking advantage of the incident.
"Some politicians and media in the United States took advantage of the issue to attack and discredit China. China firmly opposes it," the statement read.
-ABC News' Karson Yiu and Britt Clennett
'The whole house just shook': Witness tells of balloon take down
A South Carolina woman had a front row seat to the military missile strike on a suspected Chinese spy balloon, describing a "loud boom" that rattled her home.
"It literally just flew right over our development, our house," the witness, Liane Munier of Myrtle Beach, told ABC News. "As soon as I walked outside, I literally looked straight up in the sky and it was right above my head."
Munier said it appeared the balloon traveled just offshore when several military fighter jets swooped in and shot it down.
"I was outside, I was watching it. You saw all the fighter jets flying around it and circling it, you saw all the air streams. I think there were about five of them. I went back inside for a second and all of a sudden the whole house just shook that it was like a loud boom," said Munier, who recorded video of the midair episode on her cell phone.
Munier said she initially thought a TV fell off the wall in her daughter's upstairs bedroom, but when she went back outside, she saw smoke in the sky and "you saw the whole thing deflated."
"I knew they were planning on shooting it down, but I didn't think it would be this soon and this close to land," Munier said.
She said it was a relief to her and many of her neighbors to see the balloon shot out of the sky.
"It was nerve-wracking seeing it fly over," Munier said. "I'm sure the whole country felt like that, not knowing what it was."