The Costa Rican government said Monday that China has apologized for an intelligence operation that overflew the airspace of the Central American country.
The incident came after another Chinese spy balloon traveled across the US last week, prompting criticism of China and the Biden administration for not shooting down the balloon sooner.
The balloon was first seen on February 1 in Montana.
On Saturday, a military plane shot down the balloon off the Atlantic coast after days of traveling over the US. The incident sparked speculation about what China was aiming for in sending the spy flight over the states.
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The Costa Rican government said Monday that China has apologized for a balloon that flew over the airspace of the Central American country.
The Costa Rican Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the Chinese government acknowledged that one of its balloons flew over Costa Rica and that the Chinese embassy in San José, Costa Rica, “apologizes for the incident.”
China insisted that the balloons that flew over the United States and Costa Rica were mainly used for meteorological studies.
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A large balloon is hovering over the Kingston, North Carolina area, with an airplane and its contrail below. (Brian Branch via AP)
China told Costa Rican officials that the balloon’s flight path deviated from where it was originally supposed to go and that it had limited ability to correct the error, according to the statement.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman told reporters at a news conference in Beijing on Monday that the balloon located in Latin America was used for civilian purposes.
A large balloon drifts over the Atlantic Ocean off the South Carolina coast, with a fighter jet and its wake below, on Saturday, February 4. (Chad Fish via AP)
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The head of Costa Rica’s civil aviation agency said on Sunday that local authorities had received reports of a balloon flying over the country on Thursday. This statement came after the Colombian military said on Saturday that it had discovered a balloon-like object flying over its territory the previous day.
Reuters contributed to this report
