Several days of intrigue as the mysterious white aircraft flew over US airspace were brought to an abrupt end when President Joe Biden ordered it be shot down - and his decision has not gone down well in Beijing.
It's an escalation the Americans no doubt felt they had no option but to take, but one that will be hard for both sides to row back from.
It is part of the Chinese play book to simply deny. Even if the Americans say they can prove from the gathered debris that the balloon was spying, expect accusations that the claims are being made to"smear" China. There has already been a large diplomatic cost for seemingly very little intelligence gain, many experts have weighed in saying such a balloon is unlikely to have learned more than what could be gathered from satellites.
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