While Beijing confirmed on Monday that a balloon spotted flying over Latin America is Chinese, the United States worked to recover what it claimed was an unmanned spy craft it shot down during the weekend. Expressing fury at Washington’s decision to shoot down a device, China insisted that it was an unmanned weather surveillance aircraft that had veered off course last week.
The balloon sparked outrage in the United States, while also accusing China of an “unacceptable violation” of its sovereignty. This also prompted Secretary of State Antony Blinken to call off a planned trip to Beijing.
Beijing, while acknowledging that the latest balloon, spotted by US and Colombian officials flying over Latin America, was Chinese, its foreign ministry said the device was of “civilian nature and used for flight tests”.
“Affected by weather forces in addition to its manoeuvrability being limited, the airship deviated greatly from its expected course, and accidentally entered Latin American and Caribbean airspace,” spokesperson Mao Ning told a media briefing.
It has also said the United States “seriously impacted and damaged” relations between the two countries by shooting it down and lodged a formal complaint with the US embassy in Beijing.
That statement came three days after what the Pentagon characterised as another Chinese spy balloon had been seen across Latin America.
Colombia’s air force reported during the weekend an object with “characteristics similar to those of a balloon” was detected and monitored until it left Colombian air space. Investigations were being conducted in coordination with other countries and institutions to establish the object’s origins, it said.
General Glen VanHerck, commander of US forces in North America, said in a statement on Sunday that navy personnel were “currently conducting recovery operations, with the US Coast Guard assisting in securing the area and maintaining public safety”.
Chuck Schumer, the US Senate Democratic leader, said the downing of the balloon “wasn’t just the safest option, but it was the one that maximized our intel gain”.
“We sent a clear message to China that this is unacceptable,” he said in a statement.
Schumer said the full Senate would receive a classified briefing on February 15.
Blinken’s visit would have been the first to China by a US secretary of state since Mike Pompeo’s in 2018. Plans for the visit were announced after President Joe Biden held a rare summit with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Bali in November.
China had issued a rare statement of regret for the initial incident moments ahead of the announcement that Blinken’s trip to Beijing had been cancelled. The tone of China’s statements flipped from conciliatory to angry after the cancellation and the shooting down of the craft.
