The United States communicated with Beijing regarding the alleged Chinese surveillance balloon, which was shot down on February 4, following requests for dialogue from the Pentagon were denied for several days, a defense official said on Sunday.
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“Contacts have been made with the PRC regarding the high-altitude balloon,” Melissa Dalton, deputy secretary of defense, told reporters, referring to the People’s Republic of China.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin had asked to speak with his Chinese counterparts shortly following a US fighter jet shot down the balloon which had been in US skies for several days.
Those demands went unheeded, with Beijing lambasting Washington’s “irresponsible” act of bringing the ball down.
“This irresponsible and seriously erroneous act has not created a climate conducive to dialogue and exchanges between the two armies,” the Chinese Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
“The United States insisted on using force once morest a Chinese civilian airship, which seriously contravenes international practice and sets a bad precedent,” according to the same source.
Mme Dalton did not give details of the exchanges between the two powers.
On Sunday, Washington announced that it had shot down a new “object” at altitude, without specifying its nature. This is the fourth object shot down over the United States or Canada in less than ten days.