After US, another Chinese balloon seen flying over Latin America: Pentagon

A Chinese balloon was also detected floating over Latin America on Friday (February 3), according to the Pentagon, a day after a similar balloon was seen flying over the United States. According to a statement, Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder said, “We are seeing reports of a balloon transiting Latin America. We now assess it as another Chinese surveillance balloon.”

However, Ryder’s representative did not reveal the balloon’s exact position in Latin America, according to the news agency AFP.

The Pentagon announced on Thursday that it was tracking a Chinese spy balloon traveling high above the United States. According to a senior defense official, the balloon was used for surveillance. According to the person, officials considered firing down the balloon at the request of President Joe Biden but decided that doing so would harm too many people on the ground.

The Chinese government first refused to identify the balloon’s origins

The Chinese government first refused to identify the balloon’s origins but eventually revealed the civilian airship was blown off course.

“The airship is from China and is civilian in nature, used for meteorological and other scientific research. Due to the influence of westerly winds and its limited control capability, the airship deviated from its intended course,” the foreign ministry of China said in a statement late Friday.

“China regrets that the airship strayed into the United States by mistake due to force majeure. China will continue to maintain communication with the US side to handle this accident properly,” it added. 

Meanwhile, US State Secretary Antony Blinken canceled his forthcoming trip to China so that the balloon problem would not dominate his meetings with Chinese authorities.

Blinken stated at a joint press conference with South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin on Friday that China’s move to launch a balloon above the United States was both wrong and reckless.

“It’s a violation of our sovereignty, it’s a violation of international law, and it was very important that we, of course, take the actions we did to protect any sensitive information, to protect our people, and to make clear to China that, again, this is an unacceptable as well as an irresponsible action,” Blinken said, news agency Reuters reported.

“What this has done is created the conditions that undermine the purpose of the trip, including ongoing efforts to build a floor under the relationship and to address a broad range of issues that are of concern to the American people, I believe to the Chinese people, and certainly as well to people around the world. So, we took the step that I announced earlier today in postponing the planned visit for this weekend,” he added. 

China criticizes the American media and politicians in response to the balloon incident

On Saturday, the Chinese government claimed that US media and politicians had exploited US suspicions that China had flown a spy balloon over American airspace. “China… never violated the territory and airspace of any sovereign country. Some politicians and media in the United States used the (balloon) incident as a pretext to attack and smear China,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. Some politicians and media outlets in the United States used the (balloon) incident to their advantage.