Balloon row buffets Blinken’s China trip
Beijing says platform for research purposes pushed off course by wind
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has postponed a planned high-stakes weekend diplomatic trip to China as the Biden administration weighs a broader response to the discovery of a high-altitude Chinese balloon flying over sensitive sites in the western United States, a US official said yesterday.
The abrupt decision comes despite China’s statement that the balloon was a weather research satellite that had blown off course. The US has described it as a surveillance satellite.
The decision came just hours before Blinken had been due to depart Washington for Beijing and marked a new blow to already strained US-Chinese relations. Officials said Blinken and President Joe Biden determined it was best not to proceed with the trip at this time.
Earlier. China said that the balloon spotted over American airspace was used for weather research and was blown off course, despite US suspicion it was spying.
The Pentagon decided not to shoot down the balloon, which was potentially flying over sensitive sites, because of concerns of hurting people on the ground.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Friday she had no information on Blinken’s trip.
Damage control mission
Blinken would have been the highest-ranking member of President Joe Biden’s administration to visit China, on a mission to mitigate a sharp downturn in relations between the countries.
In a statement late yesterday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said the balloon was a civilian airship used mainly for meteorological research. The ministry said the airship has limited “self-steering” capabilities and “deviated far from its planned course” because of winds.
“The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into US airspace due to force majeure,” the statement said, citing a legal term used to refer to events beyond one’s control.