THE SQUIZ
One week after it first entered American airspace, a US F-22 military fighter jet shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South Carolina. US President Joe Biden gave the order on Wednesday, but military commanders waited until Saturday to ensure it was over the sea, minimising the risk to people below. US Navy divers and ships are racing to recover the debris – which is scattered across 11km of water – and take it for analysis. China hasn’t denied owning the airship but disputes it was being used for spying, with a government spokesperson expressing “strong dissatisfaction and protest against the US’ use of force to attack civilian unmanned aircraft”.

A BALLOON…?
Yep, just when you thought modern espionage was all high-tech, this isn’t the only giant white orb that’s been spotted… The Pentagon (aka US Defence HQ) says a 2nd one was seen flying over Latin America last week, with sightings over Costa Rica and Venezuela. China insists the one that was shot down was merely a “civilian” airship used for meteorological research that blew off course due to “westerly winds” and “limited control capability”. But the US says it targeted several sensitive military sites after travelling over huge areas of the US and Canada at an altitude of about 60,000 feet – well above commercial airspace. US officials also say it was carrying sensors and surveillance equipment and was able to change course, while experts think it may have been looking for holes in the US air defence warning system.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR US-CHINA RELATIONS?
It’s not great… US Secretary of State (aka America’s top diplomat) Antony Blinken cancelled a planned trip to Beijing on Sunday that would have been the first of its kind in 5 years. He was due to continue mending fences after Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping had a positive meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Bali. This balloon blowup is another thorn in the side of US-China relations, adding to concerns over China’s increasing aggression over Taiwan, the dismantling of democracy in Hong Hong, and China’s refusal to condemn Russia over the war in Ukraine. US State Department officials say they will arrange another meeting, but analysts think the nations have hit an all-time low in their relationship.