China accuses the US of indiscriminate use of force after the US military shot down a Chinese spy balloon

Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng said he filed a formal complaint with the EU embassy on Sunday over the "US attack on a Chinese civilian UAV using military force." The presence of the balloon in the sky above the U.Yes. has dealt a serious blow to already tense US-China relations, which have been in a downward spiral for years. It forced Foreign Minister Antony Blinken to abruptly cancel a high-risk trip to Beijing to defuse tensions.

Xie reiterated China's insistence that the balloon was a Chinese civilian drone flying towards the US.S .error and called it "a random incident caused by force majeure". China will "resolutely uphold the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies, resolutely uphold China's interests and dignity, and reserve the right to provide additional necessary responses," it said.