![]() ![]() All air traffic was halted at Montana’s Billings Logan international airport from 1.30pm to 3.30pm on Wednesday as the military readied fighter jets and provided options to the White House.Ĭongressional leaders were briefed on Thursday afternoon. Montana is home to one of the nation’s three nuclear missile silo fields at Malmstrom air force base. It was also judged that although it was flying over sensitive nuclear sites in Montana, it did not appear to be gathering any intelligence that could not be collected from satellites. The president asked for military options, but it was decided there was too great a danger of debris harming people on the ground were it to be shot down. Pentagon officials said there was “high confidence” that the balloon was Chinese, and that Joe Biden had been briefed on the situation. Mao said China had no intention of violating the territory and airspace of any country, and that the government hoped to handle the matter with the US “calmly”, according to state media. “I would like to emphasise that until the facts are clarified, speculation and hype will not be helpful to the proper resolution of the issue,” Mao Ning told a daily press conference. ![]() A senior US defence official said the US had “engaged” with Chinese officials through multiple channels about the seriousness of the matter.Ī spokesperson for China’s ministry of foreign affairs said Beijing was “verifying” the situation. There was intense speculation among analysts on Friday about how China might explain the spy balloon. On Thursday, China’s ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson accused the US of “exacerbating regional tension and jeopardising regional peace and stability” with the deal. Both are significant areas of concern regarding Chinese military activities. Under the deal, the US will have additional access to Philippine bases for joint training, storing equipment and supplies, and building facilities, though not to establish a permanent presence.Īnalysts have said the deal fills a crucial gap in US military positioning in the region, enhancing its ability to monitor the South China Sea and around Taiwan. Beijing this week strenuously objected to a deal between the Philippines and the US in which Manila has granted the US expanded access to its military bases. The trip has not been formally announced, but Beijing and Washington have been talking about his imminent arrival.īlinken’s visit, amid bilateral attempts to repair relations, has also coincided with other points of friction. The incident comes just before the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, was expected to visit China this weekend to meet the president, Xi Jinping. Once the balloon was detected, the US government acted immediately to protect against the collection of sensitive information.” Instances of this kind of balloon activity have been observed previously over the past several years. The Pentagon said: “The balloon is currently traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground. US officials said earlier that the balloon had travelled over part of Canada on its way to Montana.Ĭanada’s defence authorities made clear there was no public danger, adding: “Canada’s intelligence agencies are working with American partners and continue to take all necessary measures to safeguard Canada’s sensitive information from foreign intelligence threats.” Those fabricating the lie are only exposing their ignorance,” it said.Īfter the Pentagon’s announcement, Canada’s national defence department said it too had detected a high-altitude surveillance balloon and was “monitoring a potential second incident”. “To spy on the US with a balloon, one must both fall far behind to use a 1940s technology and be advanced enough to control its flight across the ocean. On Friday afternoon, China Daily said the spy balloon claims were a lie. “If balloons from other countries could really enter continental US smoothly, or even enter the sky over certain states, it only proves that the US’s air defence system is completely a decoration and cannot be trusted.” ![]() “The balloon itself is a big target,” the state-backed nationalistic tabloid the Global Times wrote in English on Twitter, which is banned in China. The Chinese government has not confirmed if it owns the balloon, and state-backed media have used the incident to taunt the US.
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