State Department confirms postponement of Blinken’s visit to Beijing after balloon incident

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s scheduled visit to Beijing will be postponed due to the Chinese balloon situation. It will take place as soon as the necessary conditions are prepared. This was stated by a senior representative of the US State Department at a briefing.

“We have come to the conclusion that the conditions are not right now for Secretary Blinken’s visit to China. <...> We will evaluate and decide if the conditions are suitable for the trip, and we will discuss this with the Chinese partners,” he said (cit. according to RIA Novosti).

The fact that Blinken may not go to Beijing because a Chinese balloon was seen over the state of Montana, where secret nuclear facilities are located, reported ABC and Bloomberg, citing sources. His visit to China would be “the wrong signal” after what happened, Bloomberg’s source said.

It was specified that Blinken’s visit to Beijing was to take place early next week – it would be the first visit by a senior US diplomat in five years. According to a State Department spokesman, the trip had been in preparation since last year and was expected to be of significant importance for the discussion of bilateral issues.

The fact that a Chinese balloon was found in the sky over the United States, informed Today is a Pentagon spokesperson. 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, the Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed that the aircraft really belongs to China, but clarified 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.