US Postpones Blinken’s China Trip After Spy Balloon Discovery

The U.S. State Department says it is postponing a trip by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Beijing, after a Chinese balloon was discovered hovering over American airspace.

Blinken was expected to travel to Beijing for meetings with China’s leader Xi Jinping and other top officials in the coming days. Officials did not say when they expect it to be rescheduled.

China acknowledged Friday the balloon that U.S. officials tracked from Alaska and down to Montana in recent days was theirs, although they said it was a weather balloon that had inadvertently strayed off course.

The U.S. Defense Department has said it is monitoring the balloon, which is traveling high above commercial air traffic. Officials said it does not pose a military or physical threat to people on the ground.   
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