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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he is postponing his trip this weekend to China in light of the suspected Chinese spy balloon heading across the US.
“We’re confident this is a Chinese surveillance balloon,” he said.
Blinken said that it was “detrimental” to discussions that officials planned to have during his visit. He added that the US and China will continue to keep lines of communication open, including to address the balloon.
“Once we detected the balloon, the US government acted immediately to protect against the collection of sensitive information,” Blinken said at a news conference Friday. “We communicated with the PRC (People’s Republic of China) government directly through multiple channels about this issue. Members of my team consulted with our partners in other agencies, and in Congress. We also engaged our close allies and partners to inform them of the presence of the surveillance balloon in our airspace.”
Blinken said he told the Director of the CCP Central Foreign Affairs Office Wang Yi this morning that the balloon flight was an “irresponsible act” and a “clear violation of US sovereignty” and international law.
He said he plans to visit Beijing “when conditions allow.”
“The world expects the United States and China to manage our relationship responsibly,” he said.
“The United States will continue to act in a way that reflects that responsibility. We look to our PRC counterparts to do the same,” he added.
CNN’s Jennifer Hansler contributed to this post.
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