US President Joe Biden's decision to shoot down a Chinese weather balloon was a blow to relations between Washington and Beijing. Politico writes about it.

The publication notes that the continuous coverage of the presence of the balloon in American airspace and its destruction on live television made the Chinese threat real to many.

“It was a pretty big blow to the public trust factor in US-China relations—Chinese espionage has never been more visible,” said Lyle Morris, a former U.S. Department of Defense official.

According to Politico, Republicans are urging Biden to tighten policy on China after the incident.

"The incident is likely to further damage, but not break, bilateral relations," the article says. At the same time, former Obama administration official Daniel Russell does not rule out that the Chinese can "play an offended victim or take revenge" and then relations between Washington and Beijing "can again climb the escalation ladder."

Earlier, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs protested against the US actions that resulted in the downing of a Chinese meteorological probe.

The head of the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin, said that the Chinese balloon shot down by the US military was used to monitor US strategic facilities.