US halts Blinken China visit after spy balloon row

Breaking News image

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken offers postponed a trip to China after a Chinese language spy balloon had been discovered flying throughout the US.

Mr Blinken has been expected to meet with their Chinese counterpart, plus potentially with Leader Xi Jinping.

The particular visit would have come amid fraying stress between the two countries.

China has said the particular balloon is used with regard to meteorological research and deviated from its path because of bad weather conditions.

US officials have said they are self-confident the “surveillance balloon” floating above the united states is Chinese.

A statement from China’s Foreign Ministry said that it “regrets” the incident and will use the US to resolve the issue.

Mr Blinken’s visit was expected to happen on 5 plus 6 February.

A US established quoted by the Linked Press said that your decision to abruptly stop the trip was made by Mr Blinken and President Joe Biden.

This breaking report is being updated and more details will be released shortly. Please renew the page for your fullest version.

You can get Breaking News on the smartphone or capsule via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on Tweets to get the latest alerts.