Blinken postpones China trip over spy balloon: ABC News

The suspected Chinese spy balloon in the sky over Billings, Montana. Pic/AFP

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is postponing a visit to China that had been expected to start on Friday after a Chinese spy balloon was tracked flying across the country, ABC News reported. The network said Blinken did not want to blow the situation out of proportion by canceling his visit, but also did not want the incident to dominate his meetings with Chinese officials. China earlier expressed regret that what it called a "civilian" airship had strayed into U.S. territory, an incident that sparked a political furore in the US.

Pentagon spokesperson Air Force Brigadier General Patrick Ryder told reporters on Thursday that the government was tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon over the continental United States and said it was "traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground." U.S. military leaders considered shooting down the balloon over Montana on Wednesday but President Joe Biden decided against it because of safety risk from debris, U.S. officials said on Thursday.

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Republican Senator Tom Cotton had called for Blinken to cancel his trip, while Republican former President Donald Trump, a declared presidential candidate for 2024, posted "SHOOT DOWN THE BALLOON!" on his Truth Social media platform.

China's foreign ministry said the balloon was for civilian meteorological and other scientific purposes and that it regretted that the airship had strayed into U.S. airspace. It said it would continue to communicate with the United States to "properly handle" the unexpected situation. A Chinese government spokesperson said earlier "China has no intention of violating the land territory and airspace of any sovereign country." U.S. officials said they raised the matter with Chinese counterparts through diplomatic channels. "We have communicated to them the seriousness with which we take this issue," a U.S. official said.

Canada summons China ambassador

Canada summoned China's ambassador on Thursday after what Ottawa described as a high-altitude surveillance balloon was detected over North American airspace, a spokesperson for the Canadian foreign ministry said on Friday.

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