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.