[ad_1]
Beijing [China], Feb. 7 (ANI): China’s foreign ministry has admitted that a balloon found over Latin America belongs to China. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning told a news conference on Monday that the balloons found over Latin America were unmanned airships from China that were used for flight tests.
“With regard to the hot air balloon over Latin America, it has been verified that the unmanned airship is from China and is of a civilian nature and is used for test flights. Affected by the weather, the self-propulsion capability is limited, and the airship deviates far from the original plan.” The route enters Latin America and the Caribbean Sea area airspace,” Mao Ning told a news conference.
Read also | Deadliest wildfires on record in Chile battling heatwave – latest tweet from Reuters.
Mao Ning further stated, “China is a responsible country and has always acted in strict accordance with international law. We have notified relevant parties and are handling it properly and will not pose a threat to any country.” The website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They understand. The statement from China’s foreign ministry comes days after the United States shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon.
The Colombian Air Force and Costa Rica’s Civil Aviation Authority said a white observation balloon similar to the one seen over the United States was spotted in their airspace last week, according to CNN. However, the Colombian Air Force and Costa Rica’s Civil Aviation Authority did not attribute the ship to China.
Read also | UK shock: 61-year-old man of Indian origin jailed for sexually assaulting 16-year-old girl in London.
A similar Chinese balloon flew over the United States for most of last week. The balloon was first spotted by the North American Aerospace Defense Command on Jan. 28 as it floated east over Alaska, CNN reported. The balloon then crossed Canada into the U.S. and spent some time over a sensitive missile site in Montana, CNN reported, citing officials.
On February 4, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin issued a statement saying that a U.S. warplane shot down a Chinese reconnaissance balloon in U.S. airspace off the coast of South Carolina.
“This afternoon, at the direction of President Biden, U.S. military warplanes assigned to U.S. Northern Command successfully shot down a high-altitude surveillance balloon launched by the People’s Republic of China and belonging to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in waters off the coast of South Carolina. U.S. airspace ,” Lloyd Austin said in a statement.
He further said: “China tried to use this balloon to monitor strategic locations in the US mainland, but it was landed above US territorial waters.” Lloyd Austin said US President Joe Biden had authorized the removal of the surveillance balloon.
Austin said the Pentagon developed options after careful analysis to safely shoot down the balloon in U.S. territorial waters while closely monitoring its path and intelligence-gathering activities. He also thanked Canada for its support in tracking and analyzing the balloons as they flew over North America. (Arnie)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
share now
[ad_2]
Source link