bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Kawala Xie

China suggested on Monday that it first knew one of its balloons had entered American airspace after it was notified by the United States.
Asked when Beijing found out the balloon was in US airspace, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said the country started its assessment after the US told it about the incident.
“China is a responsible country. After the United States notified China, we immediately checked and gave feedback, and clearly requested the United States to act calmly, professionally, and handle it in a restrained manner,” Mao said.
The balloon was tracked over Alaska and parts of Canada before flying across the US to the coast of South Carolina, where it was shot down on the weekend.
Mao also confirmed a second balloon detected over Latin America last week belonged to China.
“It has been verified that the relevant unmanned airship comes from China, which is of a civilian nature and used for flight tests,” she said.
“Affected by the weather and with limited self-control capabilities, the airship seriously deviated from the planned route and strayed into the skies over Latin America and the Caribbean.”
Asked if there were other Chinese balloons that had gone off course, Mao said she was not aware of such other cases.


The Pentagon maintains that both balloons were for surveillance but China insists that both were used for weather research and accidentally strayed off course.
The intrusion prompted US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone his planned trip to China on the weekend, a visit that was expected to be a big step towards stabilising the highly strained relationship.
China said the decision to take down the balloon in the US with a missile was an overreaction, given the airship was no threat to the American military or people.
China also lodged a formal diplomatic complaint with the US embassy in Beijing, saying the civilian airship was “attacked” by US forces and the action would “seriously hamper” progress that had been made in stabilising ties.
“What the US has done has seriously affected and damaged both sides’ efforts and progress in stabilising China-US relations since the Bali meeting,” vice foreign minister Xie Feng said, referring to talks between presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden at the Group of 20 summit in November.
“China resolutely opposes and strongly protests this and urges the US not to take further actions that harm China’s interests, and not to escalate or expand the tensions.”


The US military is working to recover debris from the balloon, which US intelligence says was used to spy on strategic sites, including nuclear facilities.
Sources told Bloomberg that the US was looking for equipment that could take “detailed photographs” from the balloon, along with other sensors.
Some US lawmakers have also demanded to know whether the balloon’s payload contained technology from the US or its allies.
A Biden administration official told Bloomberg that Chinese surveillance balloons had entered US airspace at least three times during Donald Trump’s presidency. Trump and several of his former aides denied the claim.
On Monday, Mao said China always strictly abided by international law and had “notified relevant parties” and “handled issues properly”, which “all parties understand”.
Balloon downing deepens fault lines in China-US relations: analysts
Zhou Chenming, a researcher at the Beijing-based Yuan Wang military technology and science think tank, said China and the US commonly used balloons to monitor weather.
Zhou said bad weather sent the balloon out of control in this case and China did not did not know where it would go.
He added this type of weather balloon could not take photographs, nor did it have technology from other countries
“It has two solar panels and some other devices. It does not have radar or optical devices. It does not have antennas,” he said.


How The Joy Luck Club paved the way for Asian representation long before Crazy Rich Asians

‘Golden Fleet’: will Trump’s battleship plan deter China or is it just a pipe dream?

China vows to retaliate against ‘unreasonable’ US semiconductor tariffs

Chinese military simulated battles near Mexico, Cuba and Taiwan, CCTV report shows

US-China relations

When did China first know its balloon was in US airspace?

The US sent a fighter jet to take down the Chinese balloon off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday. Photo: AFP/Chase Doak

Balloon downing deepens fault lines in China-US relations: analysts

The balloon was struck by a missile from an F-22 fighter just off South Carolina. Photo; Chad Fish via AP

‘Overreaction’: China hits out at US for downing suspected Chinese spy balloon

Beijing says Washington’s decision to shoot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon was an overreaction. Photo: AP

A large balloon drifts above the Kingstown, North Carolina, US area, with a plane and its contrail seen below it. The United States said it is a Chinese spy balloon. Photo: Brian Branch via AP

US tipped to reschedule Blinken’s China trip once balloon turbulence dies down: analysts

Antony Blinken was expected to be the first US secretary of state to visit China since 2018. Photo: AP

China’s top diplomat urges US to ‘avoid misjudgment’ after Blinken postpones visit to Beijing over balloon controversy

The Chinese balloon floats over Columbia, Montana, on Friday. Photo: AP

Then foreign minister Wang Yi and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meet in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian island of Bali on July 9. Photo: AFP

News

China

Diplomacy

Beijing says notification from the United States prompted immediate checks and call for calm
Second airship over Latin America also belongs to China, foreign ministry says


Beijing says notification from the United States prompted immediate checks and call for calm.


When did China first know its balloon was in US airspace?

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Beijing says notification from the United States prompted immediate checks and call for calm Second airship over Latin America also belongs to China, foreign ministry says

Beijing says notification from the United States prompted immediate checks and call for calm

Second airship over Latin America also belongs to China, foreign ministry says