PROTEST/ Doctor makes serious accusations: This is the kind of gasoline the autocrat of crime sells, the Molotov cocktail doesn't even catch fire!

 Kliko këtu për të tjera
Voxpress:

Chinese spy balloon incident, Secretary Blinken postpones visit to Beijing

2023-02-03 17:34:27Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Chinese balloons

The US Secretary of State has decided to postpone his visit to China, after the incident with the Chinese balloon, which, according to the Pentagon, was allegedly being used for surveillance purposes. The news was confirmed on Friday by US officials with knowledge of the developments, who spoke on condition of anonymity. China acknowledged today that the balloon over US airspace was its own, but rejected claims it was being used for surveillance.

Likewise, Canada has summoned the Chinese ambassador to a meeting after noticing the Chinese balloon over North American airspace.

The American Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has decided to postpone the visit to Beijing, the American media announced, which was scheduled to take place on February 5 and 6. The reason for this is the Chinese balloon that was spotted flying over the American sky. Blinken did not want this issue to dominate his meetings with Chinese officials, US media further reported.

Through a statement made on Friday evening, China's Foreign Ministry confirmed that the balloon spotted over the American sky is its own.

The official announcement stated that "the flying vehicle is Chinese and is being used for meteorological research and other scientific research. "Due to the influence of the western winds and the impossibility of controlling it, the balloon deviated from its course."

An object that appears to be an interception balloon has been spotted over the city of Billings, Montana. It is flying at an altitude above commercial air traffic and poses no military or physical danger to people on the ground.

"I was looking out the window as usual when I noticed the balloon. At first I thought it was a star, but that was out of the question as it was the middle of the day. "Then I realized he was too big to be a star," Mr. Doak said.

The incident could highlight how far Beijing and Washington are willing to go to spy on each other as tensions between the world's superpowers rise. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to travel to China next week for a visit agreed to in November by President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The discovery of the interception balloon may affect these plans.

John Parachini, international defense researcher at the RAND Institute, says the timing of this incident is "unfortunate".

"It is not clear that the balloon can do any more interception than the Chinese satellites. President Biden has talked about keeping the lines of communication open with the Chinese government. Secretary Blinken's trip to China in the coming days was part of that effort. This now creates a complication for both the United States and China and is an unfortunate provocation," Mr. Parachini said.

Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy expressed his anger on Twitter.

"China's brazen disregard for US sovereignty is a destabilizing act that must be addressed," he tweeted.

"President Biden cannot be silent."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Beijing was "verifying" the situation and warned against speculation.

"China is a responsible country that has always respected international laws and has no intention of violating the territory and airspace of any sovereign country. Regarding this issue, we are in the process of verifying the situation and we hope that both sides will handle it together calmly and carefully," said Mrs. Mao.

Surveillance balloons have flown over the United States several times in recent years, but this one appears to have stayed longer than on previous occasions, one of the US officials said.

Officials initially said fighter jets were mobilized to strike it. But the Pentagon advised President Biden not to do so out of fear that the waste could pose a security threat.


Në përputhje me standarded JTI

Video

SHIKO KANALIN NE YOUTUBE
×