Following the controversy over a Chinese surveillance balloon identified above the northern United States, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has now reportedly been forced to postponed his previously planned travel to China.
Senior State Department sources said Friday that Blinken’s trip, which was never publicly publicized, has been postponed indefinitely and that the deployment of a Chinese surveillance balloon in US airspace is a “clear breach of our sovereignty as well as international law.”
According to authorities, the secretary of state has been in contact with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, about the event, and the US administration is keeping open channels of communication with the People’s Republic of China.
Blinken was scheduled to fly to Beijing this weekend to meet with Chinese officials and discuss the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
John Kirby, White House National Security Coordinator for Strategic Communications, previously stated.
Top Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee asked that Blinken address Xi about the surveillance balloon during his visit, calling it a “unacceptable” breach of American airspace and sovereignty.
At a news conference Thursday afternoon, Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder stated that the US government has identified a high-altitude surveillance balloon hanging above the continental US.
The People’s Republic of China verified Friday that the balloon seen above Montana is a Chinese one.
According to China, the airship is a civilian research vehicle that was blown off course by strong winds.
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