US President Joe Biden says he has no regrets about downing a Chinese balloon off South Carolina
He says he would take the decision again - pledging that, if any aerial object threatens the US, "I will take it down"
Biden says the three other objects shot down do not appear to be part of China's spy programme, and were likely private
Biden says he has not apologised to China's President Xi, and does not intend to
The president says he is getting daily updates and will keep passing classified intel to Congress
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President Biden said that early indications show the three objects downed over North American airspace in the past week were privately-owned balloons and were not conducting surveillance.
It follows White House spokesman John Kirby's comments on Tuesday that the objects were likely “tied to some commercial or benign purpose".
The trio of objects were much smaller than the alleged Chinese spy balloon, but officials said they were flying at an altitude that posed a threat to commercial airlines as a justification for shooting them down.
Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent
Joe Biden has been under increasing pressure to talk directly to the public about the alleged Chinese surveillance balloon, as well as the three unidentified objects American fighter jets have scrambled to destroy over the past week.
On Thursday afternoon he did that – but his brief appearance will do very little to silence critics or those asking for more information and explanations.
He shed no light on the nature of those objects and provided no further information about the first Chinese balloon. He didn’t discuss when the Chinese balloon was first detected, its intended purpose or recent reports that it had been directed toward the US island of Guam but then changed course. Nor did he say why, after a flurry of incidents last week, no new objects have been targeted.
As an explanatory endeavour, it was weak sauce. And as a public-relations effort, it will probably come up short.
It may calm the waters for now, but the next time a balloon floats across the American sky, or fighters scramble and missiles fly, the questions will return with renewed urgency.
Barbara Plett Usher
North America correspondent, BBC News
President Biden said this episode underlined the importance of communication with China and that the US wasn’t looking for a new Cold War.
That’s what we’ve been hearing from his diplomats as well – they are still expecting Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to make the visit to Beijing he had postponed because of the balloon incident.
Biden also made clear he’d continue talking with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping – but that his decision to take down the balloon had been its own message of zero tolerance for these kinds of intrusions.
“I make no apologies”, he said.
President Biden has now addressed for the first time why the US shot down a Chinese balloon off the coast of South Carolina. Here is what lies ahead:
It was a very brief address from President Biden just now - and there is still a lot we do not know.
But, here is what we did learn:
Image source, ReutersBiden says he will keep speaking with Chinese President Xi, but he makes no apologies for taking down that first balloon on 4 February.
The president's remarks lasted all but a few minutes and, despite the best efforts of reporters in the room, he did not take any questions.
Biden says his administration has placed restrictions on six Chinese firms that "directly support" the Chinese military's aerospace program, which includes airships and balloons.
The restrictions bar these companies from accessing US technology, he claims.
"We'll always act to protect the interests of the American people," Biden says.
Biden says the government will outline three aims to help make airspace of America safer.
First, Biden says they will establish a better inventory of unmanned objects above the USA and that this will be accessible and up-to-date.
Second, to better detect further unmanned objects in American air space.
Third, to update rules and regulations for unmanned objects above the USA.
Biden says he asked his intelligence community to take a broader assessment of unidentified aerial phenomena.
He says there is no evidence of "a sudden increase" in these sightings, but they are a by-product of increasing the US radars for detecting them.
"But make no mistake: if any object poses a threat to the safety and security of the American people, I will take it down," he says.
He says documents relating to these policies will remain classified but will be shared with the US Congress soon.
Biden continues saying the US and Canadian military are still recovering the debris to learn more about the three objects.
He says they are still assessing the objects and reporting to him daily.
Biden emphasises the US still doesn't know exactly what these objects are but nothing suggests they were from China's spy balloon programme.
The latest assessment is that they were private balloons, Biden says.
Biden says the US has been more closely scrutinising its airspace since the suspected Chinese spy balloon flew over several states just over a week ago. He then talks about the additional three objects.
"At their recommendation, I gave the order to take down these three objects due to hazards to civilian air traffic and because we could not rule out the surveillance risk of sensitive facilities," he says.
You can watch by clicking the play button above.
Image source, ReutersThere's a lot we don't know about the story that we hope President Biden will shed light on, but here's what we do know so far.
Since an American fighter jet shot down the suspected Chinese spy balloon on 4 February, three other objects have been taken out by US military aircraft. It's important to note that China still denies this first object was a spy balloon, and says it was a weather ship blown off course.
Last Friday, an unidentified object was downed above Deadhorse, Alaska and then the following day Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave an order for another object to be taken out above Yukon.
Finally, on Sunday a fourth item was shot down above Lake Huron in Michigan close to the US-border with Canada.
We still have no clear understanding of what the latest three objects were.
President Biden is expected any minute now to begin his remarks from the White House.
We will bring you the latest.
US President Joe Biden is expected to speak shortly about four aerial objects shot down by American fighter jets over the past two weeks.
The White House has claimed the first object was a Chinese surveillance balloon that may have spied on sensitive military sites.
Beijing denies the allegation and has said the balloon was a weather ship blown astray.
Nobody has claimed ownership of the three objects downed over North America last weekend, and the US has not yet assessed them to be of a surveillance nature.
The episode has strained relations between the two countries.
Stay tuned as we bring you live updates of Biden's speech from the White House.