China has announced that its government is investigating reports that a suspected Chinese spy balloon was discovered flying in US airspace over Montana.
“China is a responsible country and has always strictly abided by international law, and China has no intention of violating the territory and airspace of any sovereign country,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said during a meeting on Friday. daily briefing.
He also urged US officials and Chinese authorities to proceed “calmly and carefully” amid the investigation.
“As for the balloon, as I mentioned just now, we are investigating and verifying the situation and hope both sides can calmly and carefully handle this together,” Mao added.
THE US GOVERNMENT IS WATCHING A SUSPICIOUS CHINESE SPY BALLOON OVER THE NORTHERN STATES
The headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing, capital of China, on December 1, 2022.
(Ju Huanzong/Xinhua via Getty Images)
The foreign minister said the trial must be withheld “before we have a clear understanding of the facts.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was scheduled to visit China on Friday, becoming the highest-ranking US official to visit the country since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A high-altitude balloon floats over Billings, Mont., on Wednesday, February 1, 2023.
(Larry Mayer/The Billings Gazette via AP)
His visit comes amid months of tense relations between Beijing and Washington over trade, Taiwan, human rights and China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea.
“What I want to emphasize is that before we have a clear understanding of the facts, speculation and sensationalism will be useless for proper handling of the issue. Regarding Blinken’s visit to China, I have no information,” Mao said.
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Senior US defense officials said the government is closely monitoring the high-altitude surveillance balloon.
“The United States government has detected and is tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States at this time,” said Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said during a briefing Thursday afternoon.
Pentagon spokesman Air Force Brig. General Patrick Ryder speaks during a briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, Tuesday, January 17, 2023.
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
It added: “The US government, including NORAD, continues to closely track and monitor it. The balloon is currently traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not pose a military or physical threat to people on the ground. Instances “This type of balloon activity has been previously observed in recent years. Once the balloon was detected, the US government took immediate action to protect against the collection of sensitive information.”
The US government is “sure” that the surveillance balloon belongs to the People’s Republic of China, a defense official told Fox News. It is also considering taking it down using military assets.
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It is not immediately clear how long the balloon has been in US airspace. The senior defense official said the government has been tracking him for “some time” and that he entered US airspace “a couple of days” ago.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
