SHANGHAI: China’s foreign ministry said on Saturday (Feb 4) that the flight of a Chinese “airship” over the United States was a “force majeure accident”, accusing US politicians and media of taking advantage of the situation to discredit China.
The United States, saying the craft was a suspected spy balloon that had committed a “clear violation” of US sovereignty, postponed a visit to China by Secretary of State Antony Blinken that had been expected to start on Friday.
“China has always strictly abided by international law and respected the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries,” the ministry said in a statement.
It said Beijing and Washington had not announced any visit by Blinken and that “the US announcements are their own matter and we respect that”.