AMN / WEB DESK
CHINA Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that politicians and the public should withhold judgment “before we have a clear understanding of the facts” about the spy balloon reports…
She said that China is looking into reports that a Chinese spy balloon has been flying in U.S. airspace and urged calm, adding that it has “no intention of violating the territory and airspace of any sovereign country.”
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning also said she had no information about whether a trip to China by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken planned for next week will proceed as scheduled.
The Pentagon reported on Thursday (February 2) that a spy balloon it suspects is Chinese had entered U.S. airspace and was flying over the country.
Fighter jets were mobilized, but military leaders advized President Joe Biden against shooting the balloon out of the sky for fear debris could pose a safety threat, advice Biden accepted, U.S. officials said.
Spy balloons have flown over the United States several times in recent years, but this balloon appeared to be lingering longer than in previous instances, one of the U.S. officials said.