Beijing confirms balloon is Chinese, says entry into US airspace was unintended
Posted 44 days ago
From THEHILL.COM
Beijing confirmed on Friday that a high-altitude balloon traveling over the northern U. S. is Chinese and said its entry into American airspace was unintentional.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the balloon is a civilian airship used primarily for meteorological research.
“Affected by the Westerlies and with limited self-steering capability, the airship deviated far from its planned course,” the spokesperson said. “The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into US airspace due to force majeure.”
U. S. defense officials confirmed the presence of the balloon on Thursday, identifying it as a “high-altitude surveillance balloon” and noting that they were fairly confident it belonged to China.... (Read more)
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