A diplomatic dispute has arisen between China and the U.S. after a Chinese unmanned airship was shot down over the Atlantic Ocean.

China has confirmed and repeatedly informed the U.S. of the civilian nature of its unmanned airship and explained that its unexpected entry into U.S. airspace was due to force majeure.

In response, U.S. President Joe Biden ordered the military to shoot it down.

Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said what the U.S. has done was apparently an abuse of the use of force.

During an unofficial engagement with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, he said the U.S. action violates the customary international practice and the Convention on International Civil Aviation.

"Every State must refrain from resorting to the use of weapons against civil aircraft in flight," as is stated in the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation of 1944, which is a core protocol governing airspace safety.

"It can be argued that the rule is now part of customary international law," said Su Jinyuan, a professor at the Wuhan University Institute of International Law.

"First, this is clear from the terms used in the provision. Second, it has been ratified by 158 States so far. Third, the U.S. has similar regulations in its domestic law."

So, regardless of whether a country has ratified the protocol, as it has become a consensus under international law, Su said during an interview with CGTN.

The convention also outlines procedures for handling foreign aircraft that enters a country's national airspace without permission. In such cases, the overflown state has the authority to require the aircraft to land at a designated airport or provide it with other instructions.

Similar provisions can also be found in certain domestic U.S. regulations, including some military regulations, Su said.

China stated that the balloon is used for meteorological purposes, while the U.S. claims it is used for espionage.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) emphasizes that weather balloons are a crucial component of the Global Observing System, which is essential for accurate weather forecasts and climate monitoring.

Every day, millions of observations are collected worldwide. These observations come from various sources, such as satellites, drifting buoys, ships, observing stations and nearly 1,000 weather balloons equipped with radiosondes, according to the WMO.

Although the U.S. Department of Defense had assessed that the balloon "did not pose a threat at any time to civilian air traffic" and "did not pose a military or kinetic threat to people or property on the ground," the balloon was eventually shot down by a single missile fired from an F-22 Raptor fighter jet.

The hysteria over China's airship is dangerous and unwarranted, wrote Max Boot, a historian and columnist covering national security in The Washington Post, noting that the use of the most advanced U.S. weapons systems, an F-22 Raptor, to shoot down the airship left him feeling unsettled and alarmed.

"What concerns me is the hysterical overreaction on the part of so many Americans to the balloon's progress," he wrote.

"A healthy concern about China's growing power is warranted, but paranoia and alarmism are not."

Also, it is suspected that Republican politicians in the U.S. are using the China airship incident to raise money for the 2024 election, according to a report from Bloomberg.

The report notes that at least 11 congressional campaigns have referenced the incident in their email communications, urging recipients to contribute funds, sign petitions, or participate in surveys.

This has led to accusations that Republican politicians are deliberately stirring up anger and appealing for donations by highlighting the airship that entered U.S. airspace.

The U.S. move to shoot down the airship and salvage the debris for analysis was followed by U.S. sanctions on six Chinese entities connected to the suspected surveillance balloon program.

"The chosen course of action reflects that the U.S. never considered resolving the incident through peaceful means," said Su, adding that the U.S. followed its own judgment and acted in a unilateral way.

In this case, the U.S. could have taken more mitigating measures if it followed the regulations and was willing to settle the problem in good faith, he said.

"Unfortunately, it chose the most extreme methods."

(Cover image: The U.S. government's downing of a balloon off the coast of South Carolina has focused global attention on China's sprawling program for so-called lighter-than-air vehicles. /AP)

Video edited by Shi Chan

Text by Zhong Xia

Cover image designed by Liu Shaozhen