China urges calm as US tracks suspected Chinese surveillance balloon

China has said it is looking into reports that one of its surveillance balloons has been spotted in US airspace.

Urging calm, the Chinese foreign ministry’s spokesperson Mao Ning said Beijing was committed to international law but did not immediately deny reports that the balloon belonged to China.

“China is a responsible country and has always strictly abided by international laws, and China has no intention to violate the territory and airspace of any sovereign countries,” Mao said. “As for the balloon, as I’ve mentioned just now, we are looking into and verifying the situation and hope that both sides can handle this together calmly and carefully.”

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The Pentagon said it is tracking what it called a “suspected Chinese surveillance balloon”, the BBC said, which has been seen flying over sensitive sites in the US in recent days. It was most recently seen above the western state of Montana, close to Malmstrom Air Force Base, which is one of the US’s three nuclear missile silo fields.

It also sailed over the Aleutian Islands, off the coast of Alaska, and above Canada, Sky News reported. “Military and defence leaders have considered shooting the balloon out of the sky but decided against it due to the safety risk from falling debris,” the broadcaster said.

Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, is due to arrive in China next Friday and, if the visit goes ahead, would become the highest ranking US official to visit the country since the Covid-19 pandemic began. But doubts have been raised about the trip due to the incident.

In her briefing today, Mao said it was important not to speculate about the object and its provenance, which may not have a bearing on Blinken’s proposed visit.

“What I want to emphasise is that before we have a clear understanding of the facts, speculation and sensationalising will be unhelpful to the proper handling of the issue. As for Blinken’s visit to China, I have no information,” Mao said.