China said it was verifying information about the “spy balloon” over US airspace, asking Washington to “calm and be cautious”.
“We are monitoring the information to confirm the matter. We hope the parties can resolve the issue calmly and cautiously,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said at a press conference. in Beijing today, adding that “rumors and hype” will bring no benefit until the truth is clear.
This is Beijing’s first response to the case that Washington discovered and tracked an object suspected to be a Chinese spy balloon in the airspace of the northern United States in recent days.
Spokesperson Mao Ning holds a press conference in Beijing on December 12, 2022. Photo: AFP.
An unnamed US defense official said that when informed, President Joe Biden asked Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to present countermeasures. The Biden administration considers the device to have “limited value” in intelligence gathering, yielding no data that is different from images from orbiting spy satellites.
The Pentagon proposed deploying fighter jets to shoot down balloons over Montana, and at the same time dispatching F-22 stealth fighters to the area to be ready for action. The US military also coordinated with civil aviation authorities to suspend a series of flights to and from the city of Billings in Montana.
However, the US Department of Defense abandoned the plan to shoot down the target because of concerns that debris from the balloon could fall and threaten the lives of those below. “The airships also travel at high altitudes, much higher than aviation operations, and pose no danger to troops or people on the ground,” Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder said. .
China’s suspected hot air balloon moves over the state of Montana, USA, on February 2. Photo: AFP.
“The US military acted quickly to prevent the balloon from collecting important data, especially as its flight path passed through many sensitive locations. We also took a number of additional countermeasures as a precaution. “, said the unnamed US official, but declined to disclose specific actions.
Vu Anh (Theo Reuters)