U.S. rejects China's spy balloon denials, reports a 2nd balloon flying over Latin America

A huge, high-altitude Chinese balloon sailingacross the U.S.and reports of a second flying over Latin America on Fridaydrewsevere accusations from the Pentagon that China was spyingon sensitive military sitesdespite Beijing's firm denials.

In the wake of the balloons being spotted, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken abruptly cancelled a high-stakes Beijing trip aimed at easing U.S.-China tensions.

Aside from the government response, fuzzy videos dotted social mediaas people with binoculars and telephoto lenses tried to find the balloonin the sky as it headed southeastover Kansas and Missouri at 18,300 metres.

It was spotted earlier over Montana, which is home to one of America's three nuclear missile silo fields at Malmstrom Air Force Base, defence officials said.

Later Friday, the Pentagon acknowledged reports of a second balloon flying over Latin America.

"We now assess it is another Chinese surveillance balloon," U.S. Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement, declining to offer further information such as where the second balloonhad beenspotted.

Biden considered downing balloon

The U.S. actually had been tracking the first balloon since at least Tuesday, when U.S. President Joe Biden was first briefed, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.

According to three U.S. officials, Biden was initially inclined to order the surveillance balloon to be blown out of the sky, and a senior defenceofficial said the U.S. had prepared fighter jets, including F-22s, to shoot it down if ordered.

WATCH |Reaction tohigh-altitude balloon:

Eyewitness, expert react to suspected spy balloon spotted over U.S.

2 years ago

Duration 1:36

Defence expert John Parachini calls the reports of a suspected Chinese spy balloon over U.S. airspace 'untimely' ahead of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's upcoming trip to Beijing.

The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and U.S. Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, strongly advised Biden against shooting down the balloon, warning that its size as big as three school buses and considerable weight could create a debris field large enough to endanger Americans on the ground. The Pentagon also assessed that after unspecified U.S. measures, the possibility of the balloon uncovering important information was not great.

It was not the first time Chinese surveillance balloons have been tracked over U.S. territory, including at least once during former U.S. president Donald Trump's administration, officials said.

Blinken'strip cancellation came despite China's claim that the balloon was merely a weather research "airship" that had blown off course.

The Pentagon rejected that out of hand as well as China's contention that the balloon was not being used for surveillance and had only limited navigational ability.

Blinken, who had been due to depart Washington for Beijing late Friday, said he told senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi in a phone call that sending the balloon over the U.S. was "an irresponsible act and that [China's]decision to take this action on the eve of my visit is detrimental to the substantive discussions that we were prepared to have."

After passing the sensitive military sites in Montana,the balloon was moving southeastwardover the heartland of the central United States during the day and was expected to remain in U.S. airspace for several days, officials said.

The development marked a new blow to already strained U.S.-Chinese relations that have been in a downward spiral for years over numerous issues.

Still, U.S. officials maintained that diplomatic channels remain open and Blinken said he remained willing to travel to China "when conditions allow."

Canada summons ambassador

Chinese Ambassador to Canada Cong Peiwu was summoned byGlobal Affairs Canada officials on Thursday amid the controversy, according to department spokesperson Charlotte MacLeod.

"We will continue to vigorously express our position to Chinese officials through multiple channels," MacLeod said in a statement on Friday.

Canada's Department of National Defence said the balloon's movements were being actively tracked by the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD),which is responsible for monitoring airborne threats to the continent.

A Canadian government source with direct knowledge of the situation told CBC the balloon did travel over Canada on its way to Montana. The source said the balloon was first noticed this past weekend over Alaska, that Canadian and American defence officials spoke with each other at that point, and that Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have not spoken with each other about the situation.

No public comment from Biden

Biden declined to comment on the matter when questioned at an economic event.

Two likely 2024 re-election challengers, Trumpand Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and UNambassador, said the U.S. should immediately shoot down the balloon.

Several Republican congressmen said the same, and a number blasted the administration for "allowing" the balloon intrusion.

"The idea that Communist China has a spy balloon headed towards Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri right now the home of the Stealth Bomber is absolutely unbelievable," saidRepublican Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri.

"No American should accept this. I don't."

Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary,did not shed light on why the administration waited until Thursday to make its concerns public.

No threat at present: Pentagon

Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, refused to say on Friday whether there was any new consideration of shooting the balloon down.

WATCH | A more tense relationship between China, U.S.:

'Spy balloon will create new tensions in U.S.-China relations,' says Canada's former Ambassador to Beijing

2 years ago

Duration 8:40

"It's like someone on the Chinese side almost did this on purpose to make President Xi Jinping lose face," says Canada's former Ambassador to China, Guy Saint-Jacques.

He said it currently was posing no threat, but also noted thatthe balloon was manoeuvrable, not just at the mercy of the wind,and had changed course.

Still, weather experts said China's claim that the balloon had gone off course was not unfeasible.

As for Blinken's trip, Jean-Pierre said a diplomatic visit to China was not appropriate at this time.

She said "the presence of this balloon in our airspace is a clear violation of our sovereignty as well as international law and it is unacceptable this occurred."

A U.S. State Department official said Blinken and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman had both protested to the top official at the Chinese Embassy on Wednesday, a day before the Pentagon announced the discovery of the balloon.

China, which angrily denounces surveillance attempts by the U.S. and others over areas it considers to be its territory and once forced down an American spy plane and held its crew captive on Hainan Island, was relatively conciliatory in its response to the U.S. complaints.

In a statement that approached an apology, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said the balloon was a civilian airship used mainly for meteorological research. It said the airship had limited "self-steering" capabilities and had "deviated far from its planned course" because of winds.

"The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into U.S. airspace due to force majeure," the statement said, citing a legal term used to refer to events beyond one's control.