Page 231 - Patrick Ryder News Today

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken has postponed a planned high-stakes weekend diplomatic trip to China as the Biden administration weighs a broader response to the discovery of a high-altitude Chinese balloon flying over sensitive s

China said Friday that a balloon spotted over American airspace was used for weather research and was blown off course, despite U.S. suspicion it was spying. The discovery further strained already tense relations between Beijing and Washington.

(Reuters) - A Chinese spy balloon has been flying over the United States for a couple of days, U.S.

China said Friday it is looking into reports that a Chinese spy balloon has been flying in U.S. airspace and urged calm, adding that it has no intention of violating the territory and airspace of any sovereign country.

United States has accused China of flying a surveillance balloon over sensitive sites ahead of a planned visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Beijing, with China warning against any "hype" over the issue before verification of facts.

The U.S. was tracking a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon spotted over American airspace, and China said Friday that it would look into those

Chinas 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 Pentagon decided not to shoot down the balloon, which was potentially flying over sensitive sites, because of concerns of hurting people on the ground.

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

China's foreign ministry described the balloon as "a civilian airship" for meteorological research that had blown far off course by winds. The Pentagon suspects it's collecting sensitive information.