In the first reported shooting incident between the United States and China since the Vietnam War era, President Biden ordered the downing of the high-altitidue balloon sent by China on an espionage mission over America. This shoot-down of the Chinese spy balloon comes amid increased tensions over Taiwan and other issues.

Two U.S. Air Force F-22s from Langley Air Force Base shot down the Chinese spy balloon with a single missile at 2:39 p.m. on February 4, 2023, over the Atlantic Ocean, some six miles off the South Carolina coast. The Chinese balloon was at an altitude of between 60,000 and 65,000 feet, and the fighter jets flew at 58,000 feet. The American warplanes safely returned to Langley.

The spy balloon captured the imagination and the ire of the American public, and can only serve to worsen the already tense diplomatic and military relations between these two powerful nations.

The United States and China have fought two major wars against each other in the past, along with several other smaller conflicts and incidents over the past 120 years or so. Tensions have ebbed and flowed between China and the U.S. ever since the Chinese Communist Party seized power in 1949.

During the Vietnam War, China sent thousands of air defense troops to North Vietnam to help in the defense against American bombing.