The Pentagon said Friday that China’s “spy balloon” continues to fly over the US and that it is moving in an easterly direction, after yesterday reporting that it had been sighted in Mountainin the northwest of the country.
Pentagon spokesman, General Pat Ryderspecified in a press conference that the balloon is 6,000 feet from the surface (1,828 meters) over the center of the continental United States.
“The globe has changed its trajectory”indicated Ryder without wanting to go into detail about its exact location and noting that “it is likely” that it will fly over the country for a few “few days”.
He explained that the airship is “maneuverable”and that under his surveillance device he has a large cargo space, the content of which he did not specify.
Despite the fact that they have concluded that at the moment it does not pose a threatthe US spokesman stressed that the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) follows his movements “closely”.
“Military commanders have assessed that there is no physical or military threat to the people on the surface”remarked the general, although they will continue to monitor their movements and review “the options” available.
The US has decided not to destroy the device because it does not currently pose a danger and for fear that the fall of its debris could be dangerous for the surface.
Ryder insisted that it is a device of “surveillance” and not, as China has said, a “civilian used for research purposes, mainly meteorological”. He claimed that as soon as it was detected they acted “immediately” to prevent it from collecting “sensitive” information.
The US confirmed on Thursday that the device was flying over Montana, a state in the northwest of the US that houses one of the three existing nuclear missile silo fields on US soil.
The other two atomic silo fields are located in two bordering states with Montana: North Dakota to the east and Wyoming to the south.
Antony Blinken canceled his trip to China
The US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinkencalled off a weekend visit to Beijing after the discovery of a Chinese spy balloon illegally flying over US airspace, a US official said on Friday.
The visit “has been postponed”, said the official who requested anonymity a day after the Pentagon announced that a Chinese balloon was flying over US territory.
However, the US is confident of preserving communication with China despite the cancellation of Blinken.
High-ranking State Department officials said in a call with journalists that the presence of the spy balloon is “a clear violation” of sovereignty and international law, making it “unacceptable” and they have decided to postpone the visit of Blinken.
This trip was intended ease rising tensions between the two superpowers.
Moments before the decision, China issued a late-night statement regretting what it called an accident involving a civil aircraft, but the United States was unimpressed.
Blinken, who has faced intense pressure over the trip from the rival Republican Party, decided to postpone his two-day visit from Sunday, which would have been the first by a senior US diplomat since October 2018, a US official said.
(With information from EFE)
Keep reading:
Antony Blinken canceled his trip to China after the spy balloon incursion into US airspace
China recognized the balloon that flies over the United States as its own and gave a curious excuse
Source-www.infobae.com