The Pentagon reported on January 27 that a Chinese spy balloon had been sighted above Latin America, a day after a similar device had been spotted in US airspace, forcing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel a rare trip to Beijing.
The first balloon, according to the Pentagon, is currently traveling east over the center of the United States and is not being shot down for safety reasons.
Moments before Blinken decided to postpone his trip in an effort to defuse tensions between the two nations, China apologized for the first balloon and attributed what it called a civilian airship’s entry into US airspace to winds.
However, the administration of President Joe Biden referred to it as a movable surveillance balloon.
Blinken postponed a two-day visit that was scheduled to begin on January 29 because the opposition Republican Party was already on the attack.
Blinken said that he made plain that the presence of this surveillance balloon in US airspace is a clear violation of US sovereignty and international law, that it’s an irresponsible act in a phone discussion with senior Chinese official Wang Yi.
Wang reportedly said that the two talked about the event in a calm and professional manner, according to the Chinese state news agency Xinhua.
Blinken would have been the highest-ranking US official to travel to China since October 2018, heralding a warming in relations after years of strained tension under the previous administration of Donald Trump.
Blinken declared last month that he would use the journey to assist set up guardrails to keep the relationship from degenerating into a full-blown fight.
The balloon episode was rapidly used by Republican lawmakers, who painted Biden as weak despite the fact that he has mostly upheld and occasionally increased Trump’s hardline policy toward China.
China voices regret
Beijing eventually acknowledged possession of the airship and claimed the wind was to blame for its detour.
Biden had requested military options, according to a US defense official, but the Pentagon refused because it thought firing the thing down would endanger those on the ground from falling debris.
According to the defense official, who spoke to the media under the condition of anonymity, the balloon offers little added value from an intelligence collection viewpoint.
It is also widely thought that the United States spies on China, albeit typically using more sophisticated equipment than balloons.
Sensitive air bases and underground silos housing nuclear weapons can be found in the northwest of the country.
Bracing for worst
Following a separate troop agreement with another regional partner, Japan, visiting US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin this week decided to increase US military presence in the Philippines.
Despite diplomatic attempts, the US military actions reveal that the US is prepared for a potential battle over Taiwan, the self-governing democracy China claims as its own.
In November, Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping met unexpectedly amicably outside of a gathering in Bali and decided to send Blinken to Beijing. Recently, a US military officer ordered his troops to prepare for war with China.
News Mania Desk
