Media: Blinken postpones visit to Beijing after the appearance of a Chinese balloon over the United States

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will postpone a planned visit to Beijing after a Chinese balloon was spotted over the state of Montana, where secret nuclear facilities are located. This was reported ABC And Bloomberg with reference to sources.

Blinken’s visit to Beijing was due early next week, the first visit by a senior US diplomat in five years. After a Chinese observation balloon was spotted in the skies over the US, Blinken’s trip to Beijing would have been “the wrong signal,” according to Bloomberg sources.

The Pentagon spokesman said today that a Chinese balloon was detected in the sky over the United States. It was decided not to shoot down the aircraft because of the threat to the civilian population. US President Joe Biden was informed of the incident.

Later at the PRC Foreign Ministry confirmedthat the aircraft really belongs to China, but they specified that it was used for scientific research, and not for espionage. The foreign ministry of the country expressed regret about this, emphasizing that the balloon deviated from the set course due to the wind.