After US, another Chinese balloon seen flying over Latin America: Pentagon

The Pentagon said on Friday (February 3) that a Chinese balloon was seen flying over Latin America also, a day after a similar balloon was seen in the United Statesskies. According to a statement, Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder said, "We are seeing reports of a balloon transiting Latin America. We now assess it is another Chinese surveillance balloon."

However, spokesperson Ryder did not specify the balloon's exact location in Latin America, news agency AFP reported.

On Thursday, the Pentagon said it was tracking a Chinese spy balloon flying high over the US. A senior defence official told reporters the balloon was for surveillance. The official added that at the request of President Joe Biden, officials considered shooting the balloon down but concluded doing so would endanger too many people on the ground.

Initially, the Chinese government did not identify the balloon's origins but later admitted the civilian craft was blown off course.

"The airship is from China and is civilian in nature, used for meteorological and other scientific research. Due to the influence of westerly winds and its limited control capability, the airship deviated from its intended course," the foreign ministry of Chinasaid in a statement late Friday.

"China regrets that the airship strayed into the United States by mistake due to force majeure. China will continue to maintain communication with the US side to properly handle this accident," it added.

ALSO READ | Antony Blinken’s trip to Beijing ‘postponed’ over alleged Chinese spy balloon in US airspace

Meanwhile, US State Secretary Antony Blinken postponed his upcoming trip to China as he did not want the balloon issue to dominate his meetings with Chinese officials.

Addressing a joint press conference with South Korean foreign minister Park Jin on Friday, Blinken said that China's decision to fly a balloon over the US was both unacceptable and irresponsible.

"It's a violation of our sovereignty, it's a violation of international law, and it was very important that we, of course, take the actions we did to protect any sensitive information, to protect our people and to make clear to China that, again, this is an unacceptable as well as an irresponsible action," Blinken said, news agency Reuters reported.

"What this has done is created the conditions that undermine the purpose of the trip, including ongoing efforts to build a floor under the relationship and to address a broad range of issues that are of concern to the American people, I believe to the Chinese people, and certainly as well to people around the world. So, we took the step that I announced earlier today in postponing the planned visit for this weekend," he added.

China hits out at American media, politicians over balloon incident

The Chinese government said on Saturday thatUS media and politicians had taken advantage of US allegations thatChina flew a spy balloon over American skies. Releasing a statement, the foreign ministry said, "China... never violated the territory and airspace of any sovereign country.Some politicians and media in the United States used the (balloon) incident as a pretext to attack andsmearChina."

(With inputs from agencies)

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