U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will postpone his trip to China next week following a suspected Beijing-operated spy balloon looming over parts of Montana.
“After consultations with our interagency partners, as well as with Congress, we have concluded that the conditions are not right at this moment for Secretary Blinken to travel to China,” a senior State Department official said Friday on a background briefing with reporters.
Blinken, who was slated to depart for Beijing on Friday evening, was scheduled to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Minister of Foreign Affairs Qin Gang, and potentially Chinese President Xi Jinping, as well.
The official declined to say when Blinken would reschedule his travel to China, saying only that the department would “determine when the conditions are right.”
Chinese authorities said Friday that the balloon operating over U.S. airspace was a civilian weather balloon intended for scientific research. But the State Department said that was immaterial.
“We have noted the PRC statement of regret, but the presence of this balloon in our airspace is a clear violation of our sovereignty as well as international law and is unacceptable that this has occurred,” the official said.
While Blinken has postponed his travel, the U.S. and China have not suspended communication over the incident.
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