Washington called the presence of a Chinese reconnaissance balloon in the airspace of the United States of America a "clear violation of US sovereignty."

This is stated in the statement of the US State Department.

"... this is an irresponsible act and a clear violation of US sovereignty and international law, which undermined the purpose of the trip," the statement said.

It is noted that Secretary of State Anthony Blinken called the head of the People's Republic of China, Wang Yi, and informed him of the cancellation of his visit to Beijing due to the presence of a Chinese reconnaissance balloon in US airspace.

According to him, it would be inappropriate to visit the capital of China at the moment.

Instead, "he will be ready to visit Beijing as soon as conditions permit."

Incident with a spy balloon in the sky of the USA

On the night of February 3, the Pentagon announced that it was observing a Chinese spy ball that was conducting reconnaissance over the northern territory of the United States.

Later it became known that the spy balloon that crossed Alaska, passed through Canada and was spotted in the state of Montana in the north-west of the USA.

Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said

.

The US government has discussed the incident with Chinese authorities.

Beijing reacted to the spy balloon incident.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that

US airspace "due to force majeure".

Commenting on the cancellation of Anthony Blinken's trip, they emphasized, they say, "it is up to the US to make a decision and we respect it."

Read also: 

• The USA will transfer the confiscated funds of the Russian oligarch Malofeev for the reconstruction of Ukraine

• The Pentagon announced a new package of military aid to Ukraine: a list of weapons

• Piontkovsky explained NATO's statement about "readiness for confrontation with Russia"

Subscribe to our

 and

channels .