Amid US-China diplomatic row, another balloon spotted over Latin America
Sources reported that though the destination of the balloon is yet unclear
Amid a diplomatic row with China over the detection of a high-altitude surveillance balloon over the US, the Pentagon, reportedly, confirmed the presence of another balloon over Latin America.
Sources reported that though the destination of the balloon is yet unclear, it does not appear to be headed towards the US.
This comes a day after the Pentagon confirmed that the US government detected the balloon over the country.
The Chinese balloon, of the size of three buses, laced with a significant number of payloads will probably be over the US for a few days, the Pentagon said on Friday asserting that it has surveillance capabilities.
President Joe Biden has been briefed about the violation of US airspace by China and he is closely monitoring the situation, the White House said, adding that as of now they have decided against destroying it because of the safety of the public, but all actions are on table.
Both the White House and the Pentagon said that it does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground.
The development has angered the US and, in protest, has cancelled the Beijing trip of Secretary of State Tony Blinken, who was scheduled to leave for China on Friday night.
This would have been the first visit of a top American diplomat to China in several years.
Earlier in the morning, in a phone call with the Chinese counterpart, Blinken told Director of the CCP Central Foreign Affairs Office Wang Yi that he will not be travelling to the People's Republic of China at this time in light of the current presence of the high-altitude PRC surveillance balloon in US airspace.
Blinken relayed that he had planned to visit Beijing to follow up on the agenda agreed to by President Biden and President Xi Jinping in November in Bali.
He noted the PRC's statement of regret but conveyed that this is an irresponsible act and a clear violation of US sovereignty and international law that undermined the purpose of the trip, State Department Spokesperson said in a read out of the call.
China's foreign ministry said on Saturday that the flight of a Chinese "airship" over the United States was a force majeure accident. It accused the US politicians and media of using the situation to discredit China.
It said Beijing and Washington had not announced any visit by Blinken and that "the US announcements are their own matter and we respect that".
The ministry said in a separate statement that Wang Yi had spoken to Blinken over the phone on Friday evening and discussed how to deal with the matter in a calm and professional manner.
Wang told Blinken that both parties needed to communicate in a timely manner and avoid any misjudgements, the ministry said.
