The United States has alleged that another Chinese spy balloon was seen flying over Latin America on Saturday. “We are seeing reports of a balloon transiting Latin America. We now assess that it is another Chinese surveillance balloon,” said US Press Secretary Brigadier General Patrick Ryder.
However, China said the US media and politicians had taken advantage of US accusations that China was flying a spy balloon over the northwestern United States.
Moments before the decision to cancel the visit, aimed at easing tensions between the two countries, China issued a rare statement of regret, blaming the winds for pushing what it called a civilian aircraft into US airspace.
The discovery of the balloon prompted US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday to cancel a rare planned trip to Beijing.
“China… has never violated the territory and airspace of any sovereign country,” the foreign secretary said.
“Some politicians and media in the United States used the (balloon) incident as a pretext to attack and smear China,” he added.
Meanwhile, US Northern Command is coordinating with NASA to determine what the debris field would be if the balloon hovering over the United States were shot down.
Authorities said they were still tracking the suspected Chinese spy balloon as it traveled across the US. The Pentagon said it currently poses no threat and is expected to remain over the US for the next few days.
President Joe Biden was first briefed on the balloon on Tuesday and has been receiving ongoing updates from the Homeland Security team, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
The Pentagon said the balloon over the US is being used for surveillance, rejecting China’s claim that the plane is a “civilian airship” for investigation that went off course.
“The unintentional entry of a Chinese unmanned aircraft into US airspace due to force majeure, the Chinese side verified and reported to the US side. It is a civil aircraft used for research purposes, mainly meteorological China’s foreign ministry said. .
The Pentagon on Friday strongly denied the Chinese government’s claim that the balloon has a civilian investigative purpose, saying the United States knows it is a “surveillance balloon.”
The Pentagon also said it would not attempt to remove the balloon into US airspace because “any potential debris field would be significant” and could cause “significant civilian injury or death or property damage.”