China declined a request for a phone call by Washington between the Defense Ministry after the U.S. military shot down what described to be a spy balloon loitering in the airspace above off the South Carolina coast, according to a Pentagon spokesperson said on Tuesday.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that Washington is committed to line of communication and will continue to do so as he tried to reach Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe to talk about the balloon.
Beijing claimed earlier that the balloon was a weather balloon that had blown off course into U.S. airspace by accident. The world’s second largest economy accused the U.S. of overreacting by shooting the balloon down.
Still, The U.S. President Joe Biden said on Monday that the issue that occurred this week had not weakened relations between Washington and Beijing despite the Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed his visit to China last Friday indefinitely and told China’s director of Central Foreign Affairs Office, Wang Yi, that the incident was ‘irresponsible’ and a clear violation of U.S. sovereignty and international law.
Internet users raised questions on why did China need a spy balloon when it has advanced technology in its satellites to do so.
However, experts noted that the balloon was less expensive and did not require a rocket to launch it into airspace.
