A Chinese spy balloon has been spotted over Latin America, the Pentagon said Friday, a day after a similar craft was seen in US skies, prompting the scrapping of a rare trip to Beijing by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The Pentagon said the first balloon was now heading eastwards over the central United States, adding it was not being shot down for safety reasons.
In a telephone call with senior Chinese official Wang Yi, Blinken said he "made clear that the presence of this surveillance balloon in US airspace is a clear violation of US sovereignty and international law, that it's an irresponsible act." "China is a responsible country and has always strictly abided by international law," Xinhua quoted Wang as telling Blinken.
Last month, Blinken said he would use the trip to help establish "guardrails" to prevent the relationship from escalating into all-out conflict. "The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into US airspace due to force majeure," it said, using the legal term for an act outside of human control.
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