Beijing confirms second balloon flying over Latin America is Chinese, urges US restraint

BEIJING China on Monday urged the United States to not escalate tension or take further action to harm Chinas interests, in response to the shooting down of a Chinese unmanned airship that it said was civilian in nature and entered US airspace by accident.

The drama over the balloon, which Beijing reiterated was a civilian airship that accidentally strayed into US airspace, has further strained tense relations, prompting Washington to cancel a planned visit to Beijing by Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

China firmly opposes and strongly protests against this, Vice-Foreign Minister Xie Feng said in remarks to the US embassy in Beijing that were posted on the ministrys website on Monday. The Chinese government is closely following the development of the situation.

Later on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said China had found out its balloon had drifted over the US after being notified by that country.

She said another balloon, sighted in Latin America, was from China and intended for civilian purposes.

The US Navy is working to recover the balloon and its payload, and the US Coast Guard is providing security for the operation, General Glen VanHerck, commander of the North American Aerospace Defence Command and US Northern Command, said on Sunday.

A successful recovery could potentially give the US insight into Chinas spying capabilities, though US officials have downplayed the balloons impact on national security.

A US fighter jet shot down the balloon over the Atlantic off South Carolina on Saturday, a response China described as an obvious overreaction.

China has said the balloon was intended for meteorological and other scientific purposes and had accidentally blown off course.

On Sunday, Colombias military said it had sighted an airborne object similar to a balloon, after the Pentagon said on Friday that another Chinese balloon was flying over Latin America. Sensitive time

The incident comes as the US and China have sought to bolster communications and begin to mend ties that had been under severe strain in recent years over tensions on several fronts, including US efforts to block Chinese access to key cutting-edge technologies.

China has warned of serious repercussions and said it will use the necessary means to deal with similar situations, without elaborating, although some analysts said they expect any response to be finely calibrated to keep from making bilateral ties even worse.

Brokerage ING said in a Monday note that the incident could exacerbate the tech war and would have a negative near-term impact on the renminbi.

Both sides will likely impose more export bans on technology in different industries. This is a new threat to supply chain disruption, although the risk of logistical disruption from Covid-19 restrictions has now disappeared, it said.

This new risk is more of a long-term risk than an imminent one.

The renminbi rebounded on Monday after falling to a low of 6.8077 against the dollar in early trade, its weakest level in nearly a month. REUTERS More On This Topic US-China relations: A long history of balloons, bombs and drones Chinese spy balloon a spanner in US-China ties, but lines of communication stay open