WASHINGTON (AP) – The Pentagon said midday Friday that a Chinese spy balloon had headed east and was over the central United States, and that the United States rejected China’s claims that it would not be used for surveillance.
Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon’s press secretary, declined to provide details on the balloon’s exact location or whether there were any new considerations for bringing it down. The military ruled out that option, officials said, because of the potential risks to people on the ground.
Ryder said he was at an altitude of about 60,000 feet, manoeuvrable, and changed course. He said they currently pose no threat. He said only one balloon was tracked.
Earlier, the United States announced that Secretary of State Antony Blinken had postponed a planned high-risk weekend diplomatic trip to China as the Biden administration weighs a broader response to the discovery of a high-altitude Chinese balloon flying over sensitive sites in western United States. .
The sudden decision came despite China’s claim that the balloon was a weather research “vessel” that had blown off course. The United States described it as a surveillance vehicle.
The development came just before Blinken left Washington for Beijing and marked another blow to already strained relations between the United States and China.
President Joe Biden declined to comment when questioned at an economic event. Two candidates for re-election in 2024, former President Donald Trump and Nikki Haley, former South Carolina governor and UN ambassador, said the US should deflate the bubble immediately.
The discovery of the balloon was announced by Pentagon officials, who said one of the locations where it was seen was over Montana, home to one of America’s three nuclear missile silo fields at Malmstrom Air Force Base.
A senior defense official said the United States had prepared fighter jets, including F-22s, to shoot down the balloon if ordered. Ultimately, the Pentagon advised against it, noting that even if the balloon were over a sparsely populated area of Montana, its size would create a debris field large enough to put people at risk.
The official said the balloon was headed over missile fields in Montana, but the United States judged it to be of “limited” value in providing information that China could not obtain through other technologies such as spy satellites.
Larry Mayer/The Billings Gazette via Associated Press
The finding alarmed many in Washington across the country and, in addition to American protests against Chinese officials, prompted sharp criticism of the administration from Republican members of Congress who support a tougher stance on China.
China, which angrily denounces surveillance efforts by the United States and others over areas it considers its territory and was forced to shoot down a US spy plane, offered a generally subdued reaction to the Pentagon’s announcement.
In a relatively conciliatory statement, China’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday that the balloon was a civilian vessel used mainly for meteorological research. The ministry said the airship had limited “self-steering” capabilities and “deviated greatly from the planned course” due to the wind.
“The Chinese side regrets the unintentional entry of the aircraft into US airspace due to force majeure,” the statement said, citing a legal term used to refer to events beyond its control.
Blinken was scheduled to travel to Beijing this weekend by Thursday, but the administration began reconsidering his trip after Wednesday’s balloon discovery, even before his presence was made public, an official said.
The official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said the administration had “taken note” of China’s expression of regret.
Blinken’s long-awaited meetings with senior Chinese officials were seen in both countries as a way to find common ground at a time of major disagreements over Taiwan, human rights, China’s claims to the South China Sea, Korea’s North, Russia’s war. in Ukraine, trade policy and climate change.
Although the trip, agreed to in November by President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping at a summit in Indonesia, had not been officially announced, officials in Beijing and Washington have spoken in recent days about Blinken’s imminent arrival.
The meetings were to begin on Sunday and continue until Monday.
I’m a passionate and motivated journalist with a focus on world news. My experience spans across various media outlets, including Buna Times where I serve as an author. Over the years, I have become well-versed in researching and reporting on global topics, ranging from international politics to current events.