HONG KONG — Secretary of State Antony Blinken has postponed his upcoming trip to Beijing after a suspected Chinese spy balloon was spotted over the United States, two U.S. officials told NBC News on Friday.
On Thursday, U.S. officials said the military was monitoring the balloon, which flew over the Aleutian Islands and through Canada before moving into U.S. airspace.
On Friday, Chinese officials said the balloon was indeed theirs.
"The airship is from China. It is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its website.
"The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into U.S. airspace due to force majeure," it said. It added that China would keep communicating with the U.S. to "properly handle this unexpected situation."
The ministry said that due to strong winds and a lack of steering capability, the object "deviated far from its planned course." The balloon has been spotted in Billings, Montana, some 6,000 miles away from China.
Earlier, Canada said it was monitoring a "potential second incident" relating to a balloon. China has yet to respond to this statement.
The balloon revelation comes days before Blinken was due to visit China, the highest-ranking Biden administration official to do so.
In a brief statement late Thursday, the Canadian Department of National Defense said a high-altitude surveillance balloon had been detected and was being “actively tracked” by the North American Aerospace Defense Command, a U.S.-Canadian military organization. It did not provide details about the balloon or say whether it was the same balloon detected in the U.S.
“Canadians are safe and Canada is taking steps to ensure the security of its airspace, including the monitoring of a potential second incident,” it said, without elaborating.
The statement, which did not mention China, added that Canadian intelligence agencies were working with U.S. partners to protect against “foreign intelligence threats.”
The department did not immediately respond to phone calls and emails requesting additional information.
The senior defense official said Thursday the balloon was still over the U.S. but declined to say where. It has not been shot out of the sky so far, U.S. officials said, because falling debris could pose a safety risk to people on the ground. They said the balloon did not pose a threat to civil aviation and was of limited use in collecting intelligence, though Montana is home to one of America’s three nuclear missile silo fields at Malmstrom Air Force Base.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Thursday that he was requesting a briefing on the matter for the Gang of Eight, which includes Republican and Democratic leaders in the House and the Senate, as well as the chairs and ranking minority members of the House and the Senate intelligence committees.
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said he was "still waiting for real answers on how this happened and what steps the Administration took to protect our country, and I will hold everyone accountable until I get them."
“This provocation is completely unacceptable," he said, adding that "I will always defend Montana and our national security from hostile adversaries like China.”
Earlier, Mao said Beijing was assessing the situation and that speculation and hype were unhelpful while facts were still being clarified.
“China is a responsible country that always abides by international law and has no intention of infringing on any country’s territory and airspace,” she said at a daily briefing.
“We hope that both sides can handle this together calmly and carefully,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Friday.
Jennifer Jett reported from Hong Kong; Patrick Smith reported from London; Abigail Williams and Monica Alba reported from Washington.