The United States downs the suspected Chinese balloon over the ocean

Shafaq News/ On Saturday, the United States shot down the Chinese balloon after increasing the tensions with China

According to the Associated Press, an operation was underway in the American territorial waters in the Atlantic Ocean to recover debris from the balloon, which had been flying at about 60,000 feet and was estimated to be about the size of three school buses.

The balloon was downed by Air Force fighter aircraft, according to two officials who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity to AP.

Earlier today, President Joe Biden told reporters, "we're going to take care of it (the Balloon)."

Television footage showed the balloon downed to the water after a small blast.

The United States government detected the high-altitude surveillance balloon yesterday.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry explained that the airship is from China and is civilian, used for meteorological and other scientific research.

"Due to the influence of winds and its limited control capability, the airship deviated from its intended course," the Ministry pointed out that it would continue communication with Washington to handle the situation.

Blinken, who was scheduled to visit Beijing late Friday, said he had told senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi in a phone call that sending the balloon was "an irresponsible act and that (China's) decision to take this action on the eve of my visit is detrimental to the substantive discussions that we were prepared to have."