China’s foreign ministry has expressed regret over the postponement of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Beijing, which was postponed due to a civilian balloon straying into American airspace. Blinken had referred to the presence of the balloon as “an irresponsible act.”
The Chinese foreign ministry released a statement saying that Beijing “never violated the territory and airspace of any sovereign country.” They added that their senior foreign policy official, Wang Yi, spoke with Blinken over the phone and stressed the importance of maintaining communication channels and handling unexpected situations calmly and reliably.
The foreign ministry also accused some politicians and media in the US of using the incident as a pretext to attack and smear China. They stated that they “would not accept any groundless conjecture or hype.”
The incident comes amid tensions between the US and China and involves two balloons, one over the US and another over Latin America. The US referred to the balloons as “surveillance balloons” while China referred to them as weather airships that had been blown off course. The Chinese foreign ministry said that the balloon over the US was a civilian airship used for meteorological research.
Blinken had called off his visit to China, which was set for February 5th and 6th, “as it would not be appropriate to visit Beijing at this time“.
The Pentagon said it has decided not to shoot it down due to the danger of falling debris. The balloon was “travelling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic” and did “not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground,” said the DoD in a statement.
The second balloon over Latin America has not yet been commented on by the Chinese government.