Washington [US], February 3 (ANI): US President Joe Biden on Friday postponed Secretary of State Antony Blinken‘s first official visit to China in response to the Pentagon’s discovery of an alleged Chinese spy balloon flying over the United States, a U.S. official said, The Washington Post reported. The decision by the US President came hours before Blinken was scheduled to depart for Beijing. A postponement in the visit indicates how seriously the Biden administration takes the incident.

The US Department of Defence in a release issued on Thursday said the United States government is monitoring a Chinese surveillance balloon that has been spotted moving over commercial air traffic over the past several days. “It is not the first time that you had a balloon of this nature cross over the continental United States. It has happened a handful of other times over the past few years, including before this administration,” a senior US defense official said.

He said with ‘high confidence’ that the defense department believes that the balloon is of the People’s Republic of China “So we do not doubt that this is a PRC balloon. And that is an assessment shared across our intelligence and analytic community. Why not shoot it down? We have to do the risk-reward here. So the first question is does it pose a threat — a physical kinetic threat to individuals in the United States or the US Homeland. Our assessment is it does not,” the defence official stated.

The defense official said the balloon was recently over Montana and that officials were considering bringing the plane down with military assets, but decided against doing so because of the risks associated, adding that President Biden was briefed on the situation and asked for military options, as per the statement.

Canada’s Department of National Defence on Thursday (local time) said that it is working with the US to track a high-altitude suspected Chinese surveillance balloon, and it is monitoring a “potential second incident”. “A high-altitude surveillance balloon was detected and its movements are being actively tracked by North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Canadians are safe and Canada is taking steps to ensure the security of its airspace, including the monitoring of a potential second incident,” stated the Department of National Defence press release.

Whereas China‘s Foreign Ministry in a statement on Friday on the unintended entry of a Chinese unmanned airship into US Airspace, said: “The airship is from China. It is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes. Affected by the Westerlies and with limited self-steering capability, the airship deviated far from its planned course.”

The Ministry said the Chinese side “regrets the unintended entry of the airship into US airspace”. The Chinese side will continue to communicate with the US side and address this unexpected circumstance, the Foreign Ministry’s statement said. (ANI)

It’s weather device: China clarifies over suspected ‘spy’ balloon entering US airspace

Beijing [China], February 3 (ANI): Regretting the entry of the Chinese airship into US airspace which Washington labelled as a “surveillance” balloon, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China issued a clarification, saying that it is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes.
“The airship is from China. It is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes. Affected by the Westerlies and with limited self-steering capability, the airship deviated far from its planned course,” China‘s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on the unintended entry of a Chinese unmanned airship into US Airspace.

The Chinese side “regrets the unintended entry of the airship into US airspace,” it added. The Chinese side will continue to communicate with the US side and address this unexpected circumstance, the Foreign Ministry’s statement said.

Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Pat Ryder, in an official briefing on Thursday said, “The United States Government has detected and is tracking a high altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States right now. The U.S. government, including NORAD, continues to track and monitor it closely. The balloon is currently traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground. Instances of this kind of balloon activity have been observed previously over the past several years. Once the balloon was detected, the U.S. government acted immediately to protect against the collection of sensitive information.”

Replying to a media query about whether they have contacted Chinese officials, Ryder said, “We have engaged PRC officials with urgency through multiple channels. They’ve been engaged both through their embassy here in Washington and through our embassy in Beijing.”

The defence official said the balloon was recently over Montana and that officials were considering bringing the plane down with military assets, but decided against doing so because of the risks associated.

Canada’s Department of National Defence on Thursday (local time) also said that it is working with the US to track a high-altitude suspected Chinese surveillance balloon, and it is monitoring a “potential second incident”. “A high-altitude surveillance balloon was detected and its movements are being actively tracked by North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Canadians are safe and Canada is taking steps to ensure the security of its airspace, including the monitoring of a potential second incident,” stated the Department of National Defence press release.

NORAD, the Canadian Armed Forces, the Department of National Defence, and other partners have been assessing the situation and working in close coordination. The Pentagon said that it decided not to shoot the surveillance balloon down over concerns of hurting people on the ground. (ANI)