Anthony Blinken told China that flying a hot air balloon over the US was “irresponsible”.

On Friday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken called his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi to announce that he was postponing his trip to the country after spotting a Chinese balloon in US airspace in what he called an “irresponsible act.”

Blinken “noted” that China had expressed an “apology” but “this is an irresponsible act and a clear violation of U.S. sovereignty and international law that undermines the purpose of the trip,” a spokesperson for the agency said in a statement. State.

“This morning, the Secretary of State informed the director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (China) Wang Yi that the trip should be postponed,” said officials, who specified that the decision to suspend the trip was made after consultations with various agencies, the government USA and Congress.

However, Blinken told Wang that he hoped to go to China “as soon as possible, when conditions permit.”

Meanwhile, USA He will keep “lines of communication open” with Beijing to discuss his concerns about “this incident” and “responsibly” compete between the two countries, officials said.

Blinken was due to travel to Beijing tonight, the first visit by a secretary of state to China since 2018.

China regrets having hot air balloon

However, on Thursday, the Pentagon said it had detected a Chinese spy balloon flying at high altitude over US soil and decided not to destroy it, although it was keeping a close eye on it given the danger of its planes crashing. posture remains on the surface.

China acknowledged this Friday that the balloon was his, although he assured that “it is a civilian airship used for research purposes, mainly meteorological”, and expressed regret about the “unintentional penetration” of the device into US airspace.

U.S. Department officials confirmed that their country recognizes and takes note of the “communique of remorse for China“Despite the fact that the presence balloon in its airspace is “unacceptable” and a “clear violation” of its sovereignty.

“Our clear assessment is that under the circumstances it would not be constructive to visit Beijing now, but we reiterate that this is a postponement,” they said.

(AFP/EFE)

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