A suspected Chinese spy balloon has been flying over the United States for a couple of days, US officials said on Thursday, in what would be a brazen act just days ahead of a planned trip to Beijing by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Fighter jets were mobilised but military leaders advised President Joe Biden against shooting the balloon out of the sky for fear debris could pose a safety threat, advice Biden accepted, US officials said.
The United States took "custody" of the balloon when it entered US airspace and had observed it with piloted US military aircraft, one of the officials told reporters on condition of anonymity.
The incident recalls the lengths to which Beijing and Washington have been willing to go to ‘spy’ on each other amid rising tensions between the superpowers.
"The United States government has detected and is tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States right now," Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Patrick Ryder told reporters.
"The balloon is currently travelling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground."
Blinken is expected to travel to China next week for a visit agreed to in November by Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping. It was not clear how the discovery of the spy balloon might affect those plans.
US officials brought up the issue with their Chinese counterparts through diplomatic channels in Beijing and in Washington. "We have communicated to them the seriousness with which we take this issue," a US official said.
US Senator Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate intelligence committee, said the spy balloon was alarming but not surprising.
Fighter jets were mobilised but military leaders advised President Joe Biden against shooting the balloon out of the sky for fear debris could pose a safety threat, advice Biden accepted, US officials said.
The United States took "custody" of the balloon when it entered US airspace and had observed it with piloted US military aircraft, one of the officials told reporters on condition of anonymity.
The incident recalls the lengths to which Beijing and Washington have been willing to go to ‘spy’ on each other amid rising tensions between the superpowers.
"The United States government has detected and is tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States right now," Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Patrick Ryder told reporters.
"The balloon is currently travelling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground."
Blinken is expected to travel to China next week for a visit agreed to in November by Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping. It was not clear how the discovery of the spy balloon might affect those plans.
US officials brought up the issue with their Chinese counterparts through diplomatic channels in Beijing and in Washington. "We have communicated to them the seriousness with which we take this issue," a US official said.
US Senator Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate intelligence committee, said the spy balloon was alarming but not surprising.