(Beijing) Beijing said on Friday it “regrets” the “unintentional” violation of US airspace by an unmanned “civil aircraft” after the Pentagon announced that a Chinese spy balloon had been detected.
What there is to know
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has postponed his planned visit to China
- The Middle Kingdom claims that the balloon is for research and that it accidentally strayed.
- It flew over the Aleutian Islands and then flew over Canadian airspace to the United States;
- According to an American official, the spy balloon would be as big as three buses;
- Pentagon official says there’s “no doubt it’s a PRC (People’s Republic of China) balloon”;
- The object flew over several sensitive sites, including nuclear silos located in Montana;
- It was not knocked down, since the falling debris could have endangered the inhabitants;
- It is not the first Chinese spy balloon to fly over the United States. On the other hand, it is the first time that a similar device remains in American airspace for such a long period;
- These devices are a cheap way to get information.
The statement states that the airship has limited piloting ability and that it has “deviated from its course” due to the winds.
China regrets the airship’s involuntary entry into US airspace.
“It is a civil aircraft used for research purposes, mainly meteorological”, “coming from China”, acknowledged a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release. “The Chinese side regrets the aircraft’s involuntary entry into US airspace, a case of force majeure,” he added.
“Affected by the Westerlies [Vents d’ouest, NDLR] and with limited self-steering capability, the aircraft deviated away from its intended path,” the spokesperson continued.
“The Chinese side will continue to communicate with the US side and properly handle this unexpected force majeure situation,” the statement said.
The Pentagon announced Thursday the presence of a balloon, suspected of being a Chinese spy balloon, in the airspace of the United States and the Canadian government said the next day to investigate “a second potential incident”.
PHOTO PATRICK SEMANSKY, ARCHIVES ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Pentagon building in Washington
nuclear missiles
“The balloon is currently flying at an altitude well above commercial air traffic. It poses no military or physical threat to people on the ground,” Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said.
According to US media, the balloon flew over the Aleutian Islands in the northern Pacific Ocean, then passed through Canadian airspace, before entering the United States about two days ago.
He notably flew over Montana (West), which is home to nuclear missile silos, where fighter jets approached him, said a senior Pentagon official on condition of anonymity.
It was decided not to shoot it down, due to the risks posed by possible debris for people on the ground, he added, while judging its ability to collect information “limited”.
“Down That Ball”
The Canadian government added on Friday that it was investigating a “potential second incident”.
“Canada is taking steps to ensure the security of its airspace, including monitoring for a potential second incident,” Canada’s Defense Ministry said in a statement, without elaborating.
The Chinese ambassador was summoned Thursday by Ottawa to explain the presence of the device.
This is not the first time that the US military has seen such an intrusion, but this aircraft has remained longer than others in US airspace.
The incident sparked strong reactions in the American political class. “This violation of American sovereignty, days before Secretary of State Blinken’s visit to China [annulée plus tard, NDLR]shows that the recent signs of openness” on the part of the Chinese authorities “do not reflect a real change in policy”, commented in particular the Republican and Democratic leaders of a parliamentary committee on China, Mike Gallagher and Raja Krishnamoorthi.
“Down that balloon!” “, urged former Republican President Donald Trump on Truth Social, while the Republican opposition seized on the incident to denounce the outstretched hand, according to them, by the Biden administration towards Beijing.
Visit canceled
US Foreign Minister Antony Blinken postponed a planned visit to Beijing on Friday.
“We have taken note of the regrets expressed by China but the presence of this balloon in our airspace is a clear violation of our sovereignty as well as international law and it is unacceptable,” a senior American official told reporters. covered with anonymity.
Antony Blinken’s visit to Beijing, scheduled for Sunday and Monday, is therefore “postponed” and will be rescheduled when “the conditions are met”, he added, while saying he was “confident” in the capacity of the United States. United to maintain dialogue with Beijing.
Mr. Blinken expressed this directly to the Chinese authorities, he added, specifying that if the displacement had been maintained it would have “seriously limited the program of the discussions”.
