The official said the balloon had flown over the northwest of the United States.
Washington:
The Pentagon on Thursday said it was watching a Chinese spy balloon soar high over the United States, stoking tensions between the two countries just days before the diplomat’s rare visit to Beijing. America’s leading.
At the request of President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and top military officials considered shooting down the balloon but decided to do so would endanger too many people on the ground, a senior defense official told reporters on Thursday.
“Clearly, the purpose of this balloon is for surveillance,” said an unnamed official.
The official added that the balloon flew over the northwestern United States, home to sensitive air bases and strategic nuclear missiles in underground bunkers, but the Pentagon does not believe it. constitutes a particularly dangerous intelligence threat.
“We assess that this balloon has limited additional value from an intelligence-gathering perspective,” the official said.
The discovery of the plane comes just days before US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s scheduled visit to China, with resolving rising tensions between the two powers high on the agenda. .
Blinken’s visit to Beijing, which comes after a meeting last November between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit, will be the diplomat’s first trip to the Asian country. Top US delivery since 2018.
In addition to ongoing disputes over trade and intellectual property, relations between the two countries have become strained especially over democratically governed Taiwan, which China has pledged to reunify with. mainland by force if necessary.
The United States has sold weapons to Taiwan in self-defence, and Biden has said that Washington will help defend Taiwan if China attacks.
The defense official said the balloon entered US airspace “a few days ago”, but US intelligence had been monitoring it closely before that.
Austin, who is in the Philippines, held discussions on Wednesday with top Pentagon officials after Biden asked about options for handling the balloon.
Fighters flew to test it while it was over Montana as discussions progressed.
‘Severity’ of the problem
But the Pentagon’s decision was “not to take kinetic action due to the risk to the safety and security of those on the ground from possible debris,” the official said.
Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder confirmed the balloon was still being tracked over US airspace.
“The balloon is currently traveling at a much higher altitude than commercial air traffic. It poses no military or physical threat to those on the surface,” Ryder said in a statement. soil”.
China has sent surveillance balloons over the United States in the past.
However, this has persisted in US airspace for much longer, the senior defense official said.
“However, we are taking steps to protect against foreign intelligence collection of sensitive information,” the official said.
Austin was in the Philippines this week to strengthen US defense cooperation, including broader access to Pentagon forces at Philippine military bases, in a move that underscores his position. of the United States on China as a threat to East Asia.
The defense official said the “severity of the problem” related to the balloon had been raised with Beijing officials.
“We have made it clear that we will do whatever is necessary to protect our people on our own land.”
Tensions over Taiwan peaked last year when Nancy Pelosi, then speaker of the US House of Representatives, chose to visit the island.
After Republicans took control of the House of Representatives in January, many questions were raised about whether her successor would make a similar trip.
“China’s blatant disregard for U.S. sovereignty is an act of destabilization that must be addressed and President Biden cannot remain silent,” incumbent President Kevin McCarthy tweeted Thursday night. .
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
Featured video of the day
Budget 2023: Major changes in tax regime, promoting green energy
