US seeks balloon payload as China insists spy claim is hype
U.S. search crews scoured the ocean off the coast of South Carolina for electronic components of the Chinese balloon shot down nearly a week ago, as officials sought new evidence to back up the claim that it was part of a global military-backed spy program.
Chinese officials stepped up their own counter-argument that the U.S. was hyping the episode, with Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning…