A balloon flies in the sky over Billings, Montana, on Wednesday in this picture obtained from social media. Image: Chase Doak via Reuters
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will postpone his trip to China next week, the State Department said on Friday, after Beijing confirmed that a surveillance balloon detected over the US is from China.
“We have noted the PRC statement of regret, but the presence of this balloon in our airspace is a clear violation of our sovereignty as well as international law,” a senior State Department official told reporters, referring to the People’s Republic of China.
“After consultations with our inter-agency partners as well as with Congress, we have concluded that the conditions are not right at this moment for Secretary Blinken to travel to China.”
03:06
Pentagon says it is tracking ‘Chinese spy balloon’ in US ahead of Blinken’s first trip to Beijing
Blinken “conveyed to [director of the general office of the Central Foreign Affairs Wang Yi] earlier this morning that the trip would need to be postponed but the secretary indicated that he would plan to travel to the PRC at the earliest opportunity when conditions allow”, the official added.
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“In the meantime, we will maintain open lines of communication with the PRC to address our concerns about this ongoing incident and to responsibly manage the competition between our countries,” he said.
Earlier on Friday, the China foreign ministry said the balloon had accidentally strayed from its planned course into American airspace, as some US lawmakers called for the craft to be shot down.
Describing the balloon as an unmanned “airship” employed for civilian purposes, the Chinese foreign ministry said that it is used for research, mainly meteorological purposes, but that it had deviated far from its planned course because of strong westerly winds and its limited self-steering capability.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is postponing a trip to Beijing and will reschedule it, a State Department official said. Photo: AFP
“The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into US airspace due toforce majeure,” the ministry spokesperson said in a statement.
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“The Chinese side will continue communicating with the US side and properly handle this unexpected situation.”
Pentagon officials said on Thursday that the US was tracking a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that had been spotted over its airspace.
A senior US official said the US had “very high confidence” that it was a Chinese high-altitude balloon and that it was flying over sensitive sites to collect information.
The balloon was spotted over the northern intermountain state of Montana, which is home to one of three US nuclear missile silo fields at Malmstrom Air Force Base.
US authorities determined that the balloon did not pose a physical threat to individuals in the US or the US homeland, the official told reporters on Thursday.
The official also said that the Pentagon decided not to shoot the balloon down to avoid hurting people or damaging property on the ground.
“We have engaged PRC officials with urgency through multiple channels,” the official told reporters.
“They’ve been engaged both through their embassy here in Washington and through our embassy in Beijing.”
The US Defence Department, also known as the Pentagon, chose not to shoot down the balloon because of the risk to people on the ground, a senior US official said. Photo: AFP
Several Republicans called for the Pentagon to take the balloon down, and used the situation to criticise US President Joe Biden.
Representative Ryan Zinke of Montana tweeted that the balloon should be brought down, calling it a “clear provocation”.
Nikki Haley, the former US ambassador to the United Nations who is expected to run for president in 2024, also sought aggressive action.
“Shoot down the balloon. Cancel Blinken’s trip. Hold China accountable,” she tweeted on Friday.
“Biden is letting China walk all over us. It’s time to make America strong again.”
Shoot down the balloon. Cancel Blinken’s trip. Hold China accountable.
Biden is letting China walk all over us. It’s time to make America strong again.
The Pentagon announced the discovery days before US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s expected trip to China next week, the first such high-profile visit to Beijing since the pandemic.
The purpose of the trip was expected to be to build guardrails for the relations between Washington and Beijing and prevent bilateral tensions from veering into a conflict.
At a news conference earlier on Friday, the Chinese foreign ministry urged both sides to act “calmly and prudently” on the balloon issue.
“China is a responsible country and has always abided by international law. We have no intention of violating the territory or airspace of any sovereign state,” the spokeswoman Mao Ning said.
