Chinese spy balloon: Blinken postpones visit to Beijing but wants to “maintain dialogue”

The incident is taken seriously by Washington.

The head of the American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, decided to postpone his trip planned this weekend to Beijing after the discovery of a Chinese balloon in violation of the airspace of the United States, we learned this Friday with a US official.

The visit has been "postponed", the official said on condition of anonymity the day after the Pentagon announced the discovery of the balloon over the United States.

The Secretary of State will reschedule his trip to China as soon as the "conditions are met", said a US official, adding that the United States remained "confident" in its ability to maintain "open channels of communication" with Beijing.

Read alsoSpy balloon: what we know about the Chinese device that flies over the United States

The Pentagon announced Thursday that it had spotted a mysterious craft, flying over the north of the country.

The US military has accused Beijing of being behind the balloon, which US officials say was intended to spy on the United States.

Beijing said on Friday it “regrets” the “involuntary” violation of American airspace by an unmanned “civil aircraft”.

“It is a civil aircraft used for research purposes, mainly meteorological”, “coming from China”, acknowledged a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release.

"The Chinese side regrets the aircraft's involuntary entry into US airspace, a case of force majeure," he added.

The US Defense said it considered shooting down the aircraft before giving up because of the risks that the falling debris would represent for people on the ground.