China's Ministry of National Defense on Sunday called the U.S. "overreacting" after a U.S. fighter jet shot down a Chinese unmanned airship that China said unintendedly entered the U.S. airspace days ago. 

"We express our solemn protest against this U.S. approach and reserve the right to use the necessary means to deal with similar situations," said Tan Kefei, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense on Sunday.

The Chinese government said the civilian airship was used for research, mainly meteorological purposes and was deviated far from its planned course, affected by the Westerlies and with limited self-steering capability.