CHINA has accused the United States of indiscriminate use of force after the US military shot down a Chinese balloon on Saturday.

The balloon was shot down off the Carolina coast after China insisted the flyover across the US was the result of an accident involving a civilian aircraft.

Vice-Foreign Minister Xie Feng said he lodged a formal complaint with the US embassy on Sunday over the “US attack on a Chinese civilian unmanned airship by military force.”

The presence of the balloon in the skies above the US dealt a severe blow to already strained US-Chinese relations that have been in a downward spiral for years. It prompted Secretary of State Antony Blinken to abruptly cancel a high-stakes Beijing trip aimed at easing tensions.

Mr Xie repeated China’s insistence that the balloon was a Chinese civil unmanned airship that blew into the US by mistake, calling it “an accidental incident caused by force majeure.”

China would “resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies, resolutely safeguard China’s interests and dignity and reserve the right to make further necessary responses,” he said.

President Joe Biden issued the shootdown order after he was advised that the best time for the operation would be when it was over water, US officials said.

Military officials determined that bringing down the balloon over land from an altitude of 60,000 feet would pose an undue risk to people on the ground.

“What the US has done has seriously impacted and damaged both sides’ efforts and progress in stabilising Sino-US relations since the Bali meeting,” Mr Xie said, referring to the recent meeting between Mr Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Indonesia, that many hoped would help improve relations, currently at their lowest level in years.