Washington/Beijing: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has postponed a visit to China that was expected to begin on Friday after Chinese spy balloons were spotted flying over the country, ABC News reported.
The network said that Blinken did not want to blow the situation out of proportion by canceling his trip, but also did not want the incident to overshadow his meetings with Chinese officials.
China earlier expressed regret that what it called a “civilian” airplane had strayed into US territory, an incident that sparked a political uproar in the United States.
Pentagon spokesman Air Force Brigadier General Patrick Ryder told reporters Thursday that the government was tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon over the continental United States and that it was “traveling at an altitude above commercial air traffic”. and does not present a military or physical one.” Danger to people on the ground. ,
US military leaders considered dropping the balloon over Montana on Wednesday but President Joe Biden US officials said on Thursday that they decided against it because of the safety risk from the wreckage.
Republican Senator Tom Cotton called on Blinken to cancel his trip, while Republican former President Donald Trump, the declared presidential nominee for 2024, chanted “Shoot down the balloon!” on his Truth social media platform.
In a statement on Friday, China’s foreign ministry said the balloon was for civilian meteorological and other scientific purposes and expressed regret that the airship had strayed into US airspace.
It said it would continue to communicate with the United States to “properly handle” the unforeseen situation. A Chinese government spokesman previously said that “China has no intention of violating any sovereign country’s land territory and airspace.”
US officials said they took up the matter with their Chinese counterparts through diplomatic channels. A US official said, “We have told them how seriously we are taking this issue.”
Postponing the trip to Blinken, which was agreed to by Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in November, would be a blow to those on both sides who saw it as an overdue opportunity to stabilize the rapidly fractious relationship. Saw in
China is eager for a stable US relationship so it can focus on its economy, which is now battered by the abandoned zero-Covid policy and neglected by foreign investors, which they see as a return to state intervention in the market. Let’s see in
A US official said that the balloons were assessed to have “limited additive value from an intelligence collection point of view”.
A US official said that the United States had “took custody” of the balloon when it entered US airspace and observed it with piloted US military aircraft.
A US official said the flight path would take the balloons over several sensitive sites, but did not provide details. Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana is home to 150 Intercontinental Ballistic Missile silos.
The news began Thursday when CIA Director William Burns was speaking at an event at Georgetown University in Washington, where he called China the “biggest geopolitical challenge” facing the United States.
US Senator Marco rubioThe top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee said the spy balloon was dangerous but not surprising.
“The level of targeted espionage by Beijing into our country has become dramatically more intense and brazen over the past 5 years,” Rubio said on Twitter.
The Billings, Montana, airport issued a ground stop as the military mobilized assets, including an F-22 fighter jet, in case Biden ordered the balloon shot down.
Defense expert John Parachini estimated that the size of the balloon was equivalent to three bus lengths.
Billings resident Chase Doak, who filmed it on Wednesday, said at first he thought it was a star.
“But I thought it was kind of crazy because it was daylight and when I saw it, it was too big to be a star,” he told Reuters.
Such balloons typically operate at 80,000–120,000 ft (24,000–37,000 m), where commercial air traffic flies. The highest performing fighters typically do not operate above 65,000 feet, although spy planes such as the U-2 have a service ceiling of 80,000 feet or more.
Craig Singleton, a China expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said such balloons were widely used by the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War and are a low-cost intelligence gathering method.
The network said that Blinken did not want to blow the situation out of proportion by canceling his trip, but also did not want the incident to overshadow his meetings with Chinese officials.
China earlier expressed regret that what it called a “civilian” airplane had strayed into US territory, an incident that sparked a political uproar in the United States.
Pentagon spokesman Air Force Brigadier General Patrick Ryder told reporters Thursday that the government was tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon over the continental United States and that it was “traveling at an altitude above commercial air traffic”. and does not present a military or physical one.” Danger to people on the ground. ,
US military leaders considered dropping the balloon over Montana on Wednesday but President Joe Biden US officials said on Thursday that they decided against it because of the safety risk from the wreckage.
Republican Senator Tom Cotton called on Blinken to cancel his trip, while Republican former President Donald Trump, the declared presidential nominee for 2024, chanted “Shoot down the balloon!” on his Truth social media platform.
In a statement on Friday, China’s foreign ministry said the balloon was for civilian meteorological and other scientific purposes and expressed regret that the airship had strayed into US airspace.
It said it would continue to communicate with the United States to “properly handle” the unforeseen situation. A Chinese government spokesman previously said that “China has no intention of violating any sovereign country’s land territory and airspace.”
US officials said they took up the matter with their Chinese counterparts through diplomatic channels. A US official said, “We have told them how seriously we are taking this issue.”
Postponing the trip to Blinken, which was agreed to by Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in November, would be a blow to those on both sides who saw it as an overdue opportunity to stabilize the rapidly fractious relationship. Saw in
China is eager for a stable US relationship so it can focus on its economy, which is now battered by the abandoned zero-Covid policy and neglected by foreign investors, which they see as a return to state intervention in the market. Let’s see in
A US official said that the balloons were assessed to have “limited additive value from an intelligence collection point of view”.
A US official said that the United States had “took custody” of the balloon when it entered US airspace and observed it with piloted US military aircraft.
A US official said the flight path would take the balloons over several sensitive sites, but did not provide details. Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana is home to 150 Intercontinental Ballistic Missile silos.
The news began Thursday when CIA Director William Burns was speaking at an event at Georgetown University in Washington, where he called China the “biggest geopolitical challenge” facing the United States.
US Senator Marco rubioThe top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee said the spy balloon was dangerous but not surprising.
“The level of targeted espionage by Beijing into our country has become dramatically more intense and brazen over the past 5 years,” Rubio said on Twitter.
The Billings, Montana, airport issued a ground stop as the military mobilized assets, including an F-22 fighter jet, in case Biden ordered the balloon shot down.
Defense expert John Parachini estimated that the size of the balloon was equivalent to three bus lengths.
Billings resident Chase Doak, who filmed it on Wednesday, said at first he thought it was a star.
“But I thought it was kind of crazy because it was daylight and when I saw it, it was too big to be a star,” he told Reuters.
Such balloons typically operate at 80,000–120,000 ft (24,000–37,000 m), where commercial air traffic flies. The highest performing fighters typically do not operate above 65,000 feet, although spy planes such as the U-2 have a service ceiling of 80,000 feet or more.
Craig Singleton, a China expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said such balloons were widely used by the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War and are a low-cost intelligence gathering method.