International
pti-PTI
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.
Beijing,
Feb
03:
China’s
Foreign
Ministry
said
Friday
that
a
balloon
the
U.S.
suspects
of
conducting
surveillance
was
a
civilian
“airship”
used
for
research,
mainly
meteorological
purposes.
The
statement
said
the
airship
has
limited
steering
capability
and
“deviated
far
from
its
planned
course”
because
of
winds.
It
said
China
regrets
the
unintended
entry
of
the
airship
into
U.S.
airspace.
The
U.S.
was
tracking
a
suspected
Chinese
surveillance
balloon
spotted
over
American
airspace,
and
China
said
Friday
that
it
would
look
into
those
reports,
as
the
discovery
further
strained
already
tense
relations
between
Beijing
and
Washington.
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.
The
news
came
as
U.S.
Secretary
of
State
Antony
Blinken
was
expected
to
make
his
first
trip
to
Beijing
this
weekend.
The
visit
has
not
been
formally
announced,
and
it
was
not
immediately
clear
if
the
balloon’s
discovery
would
affect
his
travel
plans.
Chinese
Foreign
Ministry
spokesperson
Mao
Ning
said
she
had
no
information
on
the
trip.
But
she
said
China
has
“no
intention
of
violating
the
territory
and
airspace
of
any
sovereign
country”
and
urged
calm
while
the
facts
are
established.
Blinken
would
be
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
amid
trade
disputes
and
concerns
about
Beijing’s
increasingly
aggressive
stance
toward
Taiwan
and
in
the
South
China
Sea.
A
senior
American
defense
official
told
Pentagon
reporters
Thursday
that
the
U.S.
has
“very
high
confidence”
that
the
object
spotted
over
U.S.
airspace
in
recent
days
was
a
Chinese
high-altitude
balloon
and
that
it
was
flying
over
sensitive
sites
to
collect
information.
One
of
the
places
the
balloon
was
spotted
was
Montana,
which
is
home
to
one
of
the
nation’s
three
nuclear
missile
silo
fields
at
Malmstrom
Air
Force
Base.
The
official
spoke
on
condition
of
anonymity
to
discuss
sensitive
information.
The
defense
official
said
the
U.S.
has
assessed
that
the
balloon
has
“limited”
value
in
terms
of
providing
intelligence
that
couldn’t
be
obtained
by
other
technologies,
such
as
spy
satellites.
It
was
not
clear
what
will
happen
with
the
balloon
if
it
isn’t
brought
down.
Mao
said
China
was
working
to
understand
the
situation
in
the
hopes
“that
both
sides
can
handle
this
together
calmly
and
carefully.”
“China
is
a
responsible
country
and
has
always
strictly
abided
by
international
laws,
and
China
has
no
intention
of
violating
the
territory
and
airspace
of
any
sovereign
country,”
she
said.
A
day
earlier,
Pentagon
press
secretary
Brig.
Gen.
Patrick
Ryder
said
similar
balloon
activity
has
been
seen
in
the
past
several
years
and
the
government
has
taken
steps
to
ensure
no
sensitive
information
was
stolen.
He
said
the
balloon
was
traveling
well
above
the
height
commercial
aircraft
fly
at
and
didn’t
present
a
threat
to
people
on
the
ground.
Biden
was
briefed
and
asked
the
military
to
present
options,
according
to
a
senior
administration
official,
who
was
also
not
authorized
to
publicly
discuss
sensitive
information.
The
senior
defense
official
said
the
U.S.
prepared
fighter
jets,
including
F-22s,
to
shoot
down
the
balloon
if
ordered.
Defense
Secretary
Lloyd
Austin
and
Army
Gen.
Mark
Milley,
chairman
of
the
Joint
Chiefs
of
Staff,
advised
against
taking
“kinetic
action”
because
of
risks
to
the
safety
of
people
on
the
ground.
Biden
accepted
that
recommendation.
Even
though
the
balloon
was
over
a
sparsely
populated
area
of
Montana,
its
size
would
create
a
debris
field
large
enough
that
it
could
have
put
people
at
risk.
The
defense
official
would
not
specify
the
size
of
the
balloon
but
said
commercial
pilots
could
spot
it
from
their
cockpits.
The
surveillance
balloon
was
first
reported
by
NBC
News.
A
photograph
of
a
large
white
balloon
lingering
over
the
area
was
captured
by
The
Billings
Gazette.
The
balloon
could
be
seen
drifting
in
and
out
of
clouds
and
had
what
appeared
to
be
a
solar
array
hanging
from
the
bottom,
said
Gazette
photographer
Larry
Mayer.
The
balloon’s
appearance
adds
to
national
security
concerns
among
American
lawmakers
over
China’s
influence
in
the
U.S.,
ranging
from
the
prevalence
of
the
hugely
popular
smartphone
app
TikTok
to
purchases
of
American
farmland.
“China’s
brazen
disregard
for
U.S.
sovereignty
is
a
destabilizing
action
that
must
be
addressed,”
Republican
Party
House
Speaker
Kevin
McCarthy
tweeted.
Tensions
with
China
are
particularly
high
on
numerous
issues,
ranging
from
Taiwan
and
the
South
China
Sea
to
human
rights
in
China’s
western
Xinjiang
region
and
the
clampdown
on
democracy
activists
in
Hong
Kong.
Not
least
on
that
list
of
irritants
are
China’s
tacit
support
for
Russia’s
invasion
of
Ukraine,
its
refusal
to
rein
in
North
Korea’s
expanding
ballistic
missile
program
and
ongoing
disputes
over
trade
and
technology.
On
Tuesday,
Taiwan
scrambled
fighter
jets,
put
its
navy
on
alert
and
activated
missile
systems
in
response
to
nearby
operations
by
34
Chinese
military
aircraft
and
nine
warships
that
are
part
Beijing’s
strategy
to
unsettle
and
intimidate
the
self-governing
island
democracy.
Twenty
of
those
aircraft
crossed
the
central
line
in
the
Taiwan
Strait
that
has
long
been
an
unofficial
buffer
zone
between
the
two
sides,
which
separated
during
a
civil
war
in
1949.
Beijing
has
also
increased
preparations
for
a
potential
blockade
or
military
action
against
Taiwan,
which
has
stirred
increasing
concern
among
military
leaders,
diplomats
and
elected
officials
in
the
U.S.,
Taiwan’s
key
ally.