US
President Joe Biden today postponed Secretary of State Antony Blinken's
first official visit to China after a Chinese spy balloon flew across
the US. The decision by the US President came hours before Blinken was
scheduled to depart for Beijing.
A senior State Department official said conditions were not right at
this time for what would have been the first high-level US-China meeting
there in years. China expressed regret for the unintended entry of what
it called a meteorological civilian airship into US airspace. US
officials made clear they did not believe that explanation and the
Pentagon restated its assessment that it was a surveillance aircraft.
China said on Friday that a balloon spotted over American airspace was
used for weather research and was blown off course, despite U.S.
suspicion it was spying. In a statement, the Chinese Foreign Ministry
said the balloon was a civilian airship used mainly for meteorological
research. The Ministry said the airship has limited steering
capabilities and “deviated far from its planned course” because of
winds.
“The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into U.S.
airspace due to force majeure,” the statement said, citing a legal term
used to refer to events beyond one's control.
The discovery further strained already tense relations between Beijing
and Washington. The Pentagon decided not to shoot down the balloon,
which was potentially flying over sensitive sites, because of concerns
about hurting people on the ground.
The news came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was expected to
make his first trip to Beijing this weekend. On Thursday, a senior
American defence official told Pentagon reporters that the U.S. has
“very high confidence” that the object spotted over U.S. airspace in
recent days was a Chinese high-altitude balloon and that it was flying
over sensitive sites to collect information.
source ; AIR
Social media is young.
Social media raises questions.
Social media is not satisfied with an answer.
Social media looks at the big picture.
Social media is interested in every detail.
social media is curious.
Social media is free.
Social media is irreplaceable.
But never irrelevant.
Social media is you.
(With input from news agency language)
If you like this story, share it with a friend!
We are a non-profit organization. Help us financially to keep our
journalism free from government and corporate pressure .
0 Comments