Biden orders US military to shoot down Chinese spy balloon

President Biden orders the US military to shoot down a Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon that has traversed the continental United States over 7 days after entering Alaska airspace. A Navy F-22 fires an AIM-9X missile off the coast of South Carolina, downing the balloon over the Atlantic. Biden explains the delay was to avoid falling debris over populated areas. China calls the shootdown "an overreaction." The incident leads Secretary Blinken to cancel a planned Beijing trip, the first such cancellation in decades, and triggers a broader US investigation revealing three additional unidentified objects shot down in subsequent days. The episode sparks intense domestic political debate.