Suspected Chinese Spy Balloon Drifting Over US

The Chinese balloon, of the size of three buses, laced with a significant number of payloads will probably be over the United States for a few days, the Pentagon said on Friday asserting that it has surveillance capabilities.

The development has angered the United States and in protest has cancelled the Beijing trip of Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was scheduled to leave for China on Friday night. This would have been the first visit of a top American diplomat to China in several years.

President Joe Biden has been briefed about the violation of US airspace by China and he is closely monitoring the developing situation, the White House said adding that as of now they have decided against destroying it because of the safety of the public, but all actions are on table.

"We will continue to monitor it. Right now, we assess that it'll probably be over the United States for a few days, but we'll continue to review our options and keep you updated as we can," Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters at the Department of Defence.

"It's got a large payload underneath the surveillance component, underneath the actual balloon piece of it," Ryder said, adding that the surveillance balloon has manoeuvrability capabilities. Right now at this point, it's moving eastward across the United States, currently over about the central United States, he said.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that the US has noted the Chinese statement of regret. "But the presence of this balloon in our airspace, it is a clear violation of our sovereignty as well as international law, and it is unacceptable that this occurred," she said.

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