Retired Senior Colonel Zhou Bo told DW that the errant Chinese balloon was an accident, and that Washington should stop over-reacting to what was an honest mistake.
The balloon which Washington said was likely gathering intelligence, has been described by Beijing as collecting “weather” data.
It drifted over US airspace last week before being shot down by a US Air Force F-22.
Zhou said US-China relations had too many important issues to address that shouldn’t be “overshadowed by a symbolic balloon.”
