Beijing, China - China has slammed the US for shooting down a Chinese aircraft that officials suspected was a surveillance balloon above US territorial waters, labelling the move as an "overreaction" and a "serious violation of international practice."

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Saturday confirmed that the US military had shot down a "high altitude surveillance balloon launched by and belonging to the People's Republic of China" in US airspace off the coast of South Carolina.

On Sunday, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson in Beijing expressed China's "strong dissatisfaction" over the "use of force" in bringing down the aircraft.

The spokesperson once again rejected any allegations of espionage, claiming that the balloon was a civilian aircraft that had veered off course due to "force majeure."

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"The spokesperson of the US Department of Defense also noted that the balloon does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground," the Chinese spokesperson said. "Under such circumstances, the US use of force is a clear overreaction and a serious violation of international practice," he added.

"China will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the company concerned, and reserves the right to make further responses if necessary," the spokesperson said.

The Pentagon first made public the presence of the suspected surveillance balloon on Thursday, as it floated above the state of Montana, where 150 intercontinental ballistic missiles armed with nuclear warheads are stored at a military base in the north, according to a report.

However, President Joe Biden had ordered the balloon to be shot down "as quickly as possible" on Wednesday. The balloon was officially shot down on Saturday by fighter jets from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday cancelled his planned visit to Beijing, originally scheduled for Sunday, and called the intrusion of the "surveillance balloon" into US airspace "unacceptable" and "irresponsible."

Colombia and the US revealed that they are tracking another possible observation balloon spotted over the Latin American country.

On the morning of February 3, the Colombian national air defense system detected an object at an altitude of around 55,000 feet that had entered the country's airspace in the northern sector, the air force said on Saturday evening.

The object had moved at an average speed of about 29 miles per hour, showing "similar characteristics to a balloon."

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The Colombian Air Force had tracked the object via its defense systems until it left its airspace.

It had posed "no threat to national security and defense, nor to air safety," the air force said, adding it was now working with other countries to determine the origin of the object.