Beijing confirmed on Monday (6) that the balloon detected flying over Latin America is Chinese, as the United States tries to recover the remains of a similar device shot down in its airspace over the weekend.
China has expressed outrage at the United States’ decision to shoot down a first probe detected on its territory. Beijing insists that it is a meteorological device that went off course.
Following the detection of the first balloon that flew over the United States, Washington canceled a trip to China by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
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On Monday, Beijing acknowledged that the second balloon, detected over Latin America over the weekend, is also Chinese.
China’s Foreign Ministry explained on Monday that the object is for civilian purposes and is used for a flight test.
Due to “weather forces and its limited maneuverability, the airship seriously deviated from its scheduled route” and “accidentally headed toward Latin America and the Caribbean,” said a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mao Ning.
“China is a responsible country and has always strictly respected international law,” he added.
“We have contacted the relevant parties and are dealing [with the issue] appropriately. We will not cause any threat to any country,” he continued.
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China’s statement came three days after the Pentagon warned that a second suspected spy balloon from China had been detected flying over Latin America.
The Colombian Air Force indicated, for its part, that “an object” with “balloon-like characteristics” was detected and monitored “until it left airspace.”
The U.S. Department of Defense gave no details about the location of the identified device in Latin America, nor where it was headed.
Bilateral tensions
On Saturday (4), US aviation shot down, with a missile, the first Chinese balloon off the coast of South Carolina in the southeast.
Pentagon officials described the device as a “high-altitude surveillance balloon,” and the United States said it took steps to prevent it from collecting classified information.
Beijing accused the United States of “overreacting” through the use of force, and said it “reserves the right” to take retaliation.
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In the United States, the Republican opposition criticized President Joe Biden for not giving a firmer and quicker response.
Senate Democratic Party leader Chuck Schumer defended the government’s action, saying it allows it to “maximize intelligence gathering.”
Schumer said that the Senate will receive a confidential report on February 15.
When asked in an interview with broadcaster ABC whether people in the Chinese Army may have wanted to disrupt Blinken’s visit, former U.S. Chief of Staff Mike Mullen said, “Clearly, I think that’s the case.”
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He also downplayed the version that the balloon deviated from its course.
“It was not an accident, it was deliberate,” he said.
Blinken’s visit would be the first by a head of US diplomacy to China since Mike Pompeo’s in 2018, still under Donald Trump’s administration.
Change in tone
Since the cancellation of Blinken’s trip and the downing of the first plane, China has abandoned its initially conciliatory tone to speak out with greater indignation.
On the streets of Beijing, 23-year-old Li Yize told AFP that he believes Washington’s decision to bring down the balloon “is a way for the United States to show its military might.”
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An elderly man, who identified himself as Xu, said “China is very magnanimous.”
“US military reconnaissance planes often fly past the Chinese coast,” he said.
“But China is tolerant, it doesn’t attach much importance to that,” he added.
