president Joe Biden said on Thursday a Chinese spy balloon transiting the United States was not a major vulnerability.

What happened: Biden, who was then heavily criticized by his opponents A Chinese spy balloon entered US airspace before being shot down in the AtlanticHe said he had no regrets about shooting down the balloon earlier.

“It’s not a major breach,” Biden said in an interview with Noticias Telemundo, Reuters reported.

“I mean, look, it’s totally … it’s a violation of international law. It’s our airspace. And once it comes into our space, we can do whatever we want with it.”

See also: China Responds to US Launch of Spy Balloon: ‘Reserves Right to Take Further Actions in Response’

The US President added that the military had expressed concerns that the deflated balloon and its parts could fall overland into a populated area when launched.

Biden’s comments were prompted by criticism from some Republicans and Democrats who said the Biden administration would should have dropped the balloon sooner.

“The thing was gigantic. What if it came down and hit a school in a rural area? What happened when it came down? So I told them as soon as they could shoot it, shoot it. You made a wise decision. They shot it over water, they’re recovering most of the parts and they’re good,” he said.

Now a senior Ministry of Foreign Affairs An official said the US is considering taking action against companies linked to it Chinese army that supported the flight of a Beijing spy balloon into US airspace last week.

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