WASHINGTON: A day after the first massive balloon was spotted in America, the Pentagon has announced that a second similar craft is being spotted over Latin America on Friday. This has added to the already existing panic situation regarding the actual intentions of these balloons of Chinese origin.
The American authorities have maintained that these balloons have surveillance equipment onboard. They had earlier announced that the decision was taken against shooting down the balloons amidst fears for the safety of the American Public.
According to reports from the Pentagon, the first balloon was moving eastwards over the Central United States. While the second one has been noticed transiting Latin America. The exact locations were not disclosed by the government, but they are closely monitoring the positions.
The Chinese have issued a statement expressing regret over the first balloon. They had called it a civilian airship which was pushed inwards into the US airspace by unpredicted winds. But the US administration called it a manoeuvrable "surveillance balloon" aiming to conduct aerial surveillance of the key locations of the US.
Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken has postponed his two-day scheduled visit to China over this incident. Talking over the telephone with the Chinese, he, "made clear that the presence of this surveillance balloon in US airspace is a clear violation of US sovereignty and international law, that it's an irresponsible act." He also mentioned that "the United States is committed to diplomatic engagement with China and that I plan to visit Beijing when conditions allow." It was supposed to be the first visit by a senior official after 2018.
According to the Chinese state news agency, a senior Chinese official named Wang Li handled the conversation calmly. He was cited to mention "China is a responsible country and has always strictly abided by international law," and "we do not accept any groundless speculation and hype."
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