Secretary of State Antony Blinken has postponed a deliberate high-stakes weekend diplomatic journey to China because the Biden administration weighs a broader response to the discovery of a high-altitude Chinese balloon flying over delicate websites within the western United States, two diplomatic sources inform CBS Information. 

The choice got here regardless of China’s declare that the balloon was a climate analysis satellite tv for pc that had blown astray. The U.S. has described it as a surveillance satellite tv for pc. 

The journey was known as off simply hours earlier than Blinken was attributable to depart Washington for Beijing and heightened the pressure on U.S.-Chinese language relations. On Friday morning, Blinken informed his Chinese language counterpart, Wang Yi, that the journey would have to be postponed, however he intends to go to at a future date.

By Friday morning, the balloon was not over Montana however had moved over the Midwest, based on a U.S. official. It is not going to expire of gasoline, because it has photo voltaic panels. The official additionally stated that the balloon steers by rudder and is corkscrewing round to gradual its progress over land, however the jet stream continues to maneuver it on a trajectory throughout the U.S. The Pentagon continues to be contemplating methods to “dispose” of it however has “grave issues” in regards to the harm it could trigger if it fell to earth. U.S. authorities attorneys regard this as a violation of U.S. air house.

Blinken’s long-anticipated conferences with senior Chinese language officers had been seen in each international locations as a approach to discover some areas of widespread floor amid main disagreements over Taiwan, human rights, China’s claims within the South China Sea, North Korea, Russia’s warfare in Ukraine, commerce coverage and local weather change.

Though the journey, which was agreed to in November by Mr. Biden and Chinese language President Xi Jinping at a summit in Indonesia, had not been formally introduced, officers in each Beijing and Washington had been speaking in current days about Blinken’s imminent arrival. In November, Mr. Biden and Xi mentioned sustaining “open lines of communication” amid growing tensions between the international locations. Mr. Biden has described the U.S. relationship with China as one in all strategic competitors. 

The conferences have been to start on Sunday and undergo Monday. 

The invention of the balloon was introduced on Thursday by Pentagon officers who stated one of many locations the place it was noticed was over the state of Montana, which is residence to one in all America’s three nuclear missile silo fields at Malmstrom Air Pressure Base.

A senior protection official stated the U.S. ready fighter jets, together with F-22s, to shoot down the balloon, if ordered. The Pentagon finally beneficial in opposition to it, noting that although the balloon was over a sparsely populated space of Montana, its dimension would create a particles discipline massive sufficient to place individuals in danger.

China, which angrily denounces surveillance makes an attempt by the U.S. and others over areas it considers to be its territory and as soon as pressured down an American spy airplane, provided a usually muted response to the Pentagon announcement.

In a comparatively conciliatory assertion, the Chinese language international ministry stated late Friday that the balloon was a civilian airship used primarily for meteorological analysis. The ministry stated the airship has restricted “self-steering” capabilities and “deviated removed from its deliberate course” due to winds.

“The Chinese language aspect regrets the unintended entry of the airship into U.S. airspace attributable to power majeure,” the assertion stated, citing a authorized time period used to seek advice from occasions past one’s management.

The balloon incident additionally comes as authorities officers all through the U.S. are cracking down on TikTok — a massively in style social media app owned by Chinese language firm ByteDance — over fears of spying. 

China has additionally carried out large-scale navy drills after U.S. lawmakers, together with then-Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi, visited Taiwan final yr. The Chinese language authorities has opposed any motion it sees as getting in the best way of its efforts to reunify the self-governing island. 

And the Home of Representatives not too long ago established a brand new committee on China, specializing in its competitors with the U.S. and worldwide affect. 

David Martin, Margaret Brennan, Christina Ruffini, Caitlin Yilek and Kathryn Watson contributed to this report.