In a response to the White House's statement on suspected 'spy' balloons being a part of a PRC fleet of balloons developed to conduct surveillance operations, the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Thursday said that the US overreacted by using force.
Regretting the entry of the Chinese airship into US airspace which Washington labelled as a "surveillance" balloon, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China issued a clarification, saying that it is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes.