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(Trends Wide) — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has postponed his upcoming trip to China in response to an alleged Chinese spy balloon appearing in US skies, according to two US officials. The postponement of the trip marks a new phase in tensions between Washington and Beijing.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Friday that the suspected Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon flying over the US mainland is a “civilian airship” used mainly for weather research, and that it deviated from its planned course. . The statement by a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman is the first admission that the flying object left China since the Pentagon revealed it was tracking the balloon on Thursday.
A US military official said the incident was “undoubtedly serious” due to the “audacity” of the Chinese government, beyond any intelligence gains. While existing satellites can collect similar amounts of information, the timing of the spy balloon’s appearance, just before Blinken’s planned trip, and the fact that it is right over the US contribute to the gravity of the situation, he said. the official.
Biden was involved in the decision to postpone Blinken’s trip
The decision to postpone Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to China came after high-level talks between Blinken, President Biden and other top national security officials, according to people familiar with the matter.
White House officials had seen US-China relations improve in the weeks since the November meeting between Biden and Xi Jinping. Blinken’s trip was to be the culmination of more robust talks between Washington and Beijing in the two months since the Bali summit.
In the lead up to Blinken’s trip, officials said it was possible Biden and Xi could talk again sometime in the coming months.
US President Joe Biden meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 leaders’ summit in Bali, Indonesia on November 14, 2022. (Credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque).But Biden has been sensitive to criticism from Republicans and others who believe he is too soft on China. And while he agreed with the Pentagon’s recommendations not to shoot down the balloon because it posed a threat to people on the ground, he did want to demonstrate some kind of response.
Earlier this week, the State Department convened China’s charge d’affaires in Washington, Xu Xueyuan, “to deliver a very clear and strong message” about the discovery of the spy balloon, a second US official told Trends Wide.
The balloon, which is the size of three buses, was spotted over Montana, where 100 ICBMs are buried in silos at Malmstrom Air Force Base.
Pentagon spokesman General Patrick Ryder said the US government had been tracking the balloon for several days as it made its way over the northern United States, adding that it was “traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic.” so it does not present a physical or military threat to people on the ground.”
A senior US defense official said senior military officials had advised Biden not to shoot it down for fear the debris would threaten the safety of people on the ground.
“We are confident that this high-altitude surveillance balloon belongs to the [República Popular China]the Defense official said. “Instances of this activity have been observed in recent years, even prior to this administration.”
While the balloon’s current flight path takes it over “a number of sensitive sites,” the official said it does not present a significant risk to intelligence gathering. The balloon is assessed to be of “limited value” from an intelligence-gathering perspective, he added.
Powered by a solar array
Sources familiar with the matter told Trends Wide that the movements of the Chinese spy balloons appear to rely mainly on jet propulsion, allowing Beijing to predict their likely path.
China can control the surveillance balloon to a certain extent, for example by turning surveillance equipment inside it on and off, the sources said. The fact that China has some control over the balloon’s capabilities is the reason why the US government has raised concerns about it, the sources said.
The balloon’s surveillance equipment appears to be powered by a solar array, a US official said, which would provide the system with a reliable source of power at high altitudes. But the solar panel does not appear to be connected to any kind of motor that would allow China to steer the balloon, the official added.
Pentagon officials said they did not believe the balloon had surveillance or intelligence-gathering capabilities beyond that of Chinese spy satellites in low-Earth orbit, but unlike satellites that zip over a location every 90 minutes, a spy balloon can hover over a location and gather more than one “pattern” from a particular site, the official said.
In the past, the US has simply allowed balloons like this to fly, without taking any action or publicizing its presence over the US, the sources said. It is also not the first time that a surveillance balloon has appeared over the United States.
The US official said there have been similar incidents involving suspected Chinese surveillance balloons over Hawaii and Guam in recent years.
Canada summons Chinese ambassador
Canada reported that it summoned the Chinese ambassador to explain why a surveillance device entered Canadian airspace. A Global Affairs spokesman says Canada would like China to explain why and how its high-altitude monitoring device entered its airspace.
“Yesterday, the Chinese ambassador to Canada was summoned by Canadian Global Affairs officials regarding the situation described in the statement issued by Canada’s Department of National Defense. We will continue to forcefully express our position to Chinese officials through multiple channels,” Jason Kung, spokesman for Global Affairs Canada, said in a statement provided to Trends Wide.
In a statement Thursday, Canada’s Department of National Defense confirmed it had detected the monitoring device and said it was continuing to track the surveillance balloon along with its US counterpart.
“Canadians are safe and Canada is taking steps to ensure the safety of its airspace, including monitoring a potential second incident. NORAD, the Canadian Armed Forces, the Department of National Defense and other partners have been assessing the situation and working in close coordination,” the statement read in part.
Trends Wide has sought clarification on the “second incident” mentioned in the statement, but the Canadian government says it has no further information to share at this time.
Paula Newton, Natasha Bertrand, Katie-Bo Lillis, Haley Britzky, and Martin Goillandeau contributed to this article.
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