Espionage accusation: balloon from China also over Costa Rica

espionage accusation
Balloon from China also over Costa Rica

China insists the balloons are for scientific purposes only. photo

© Chad Fish/dpa

The air is not out of the balloon affair. China continues to criticize the US as the US seeks to calm tempers. Beijing also regretted a balloon flight over Costa Rica.

After the US shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon, another balloon appears to be continuing its journey over Latin America. After Colombia and Venezuela, it was also reported from Costa Rica that a Chinese balloon had been sighted. The Central American country’s foreign ministry said the Chinese embassy in San Jose regretted the incident.

The balloon is for scientific purposes only, the embassy argued. He deviated from his originally planned route because of the weather conditions and lack of controllability. After the incident with the first balloon over the USA, the Foreign Ministry in Beijing had already admitted the day before that a second “civilian” balloon had gone astray during a “flight attempt” and was flying over Latin America.

The US military shot down the first Chinese observation balloon over the Atlantic off the coast of South Carolina. Beijing criticized the “obvious overreaction”. Washington accused China of wanting to use the balloon to spy on military installations. The government in Beijing, on the other hand, spoke of a civilian research balloon that was far off course due to the westerly wind drift and insufficient navigation options.

US wants to avoid conflict

While criticism of the US continued unabated in China, the US government wants to avoid escalating tensions between the two countries. “There is no reason for the tensions in our bilateral relationship to escalate into some kind of conflict,” said the US government’s National Security Council communications director, John Kirby. The US acted in accordance with international law to launch the balloon over its territory. The US would have defended its airspace and its country.

After the balloon appeared over the United States last week, Foreign Minister Antony Blinken canceled his trip to Beijing. It would have been the first visit by a US Secretary of State to China in more than four years. Both sides had previously indicated their interest in using Blinken’s talks in Beijing to stabilize the badly battered relationship.

China is now portraying itself as a victim of the domestic political infighting in the US. The launch did not end the balloon affair, as US politicians continued their rhetoric about a “Chinese threat” and fueled the political dispute between Republicans and Democrats – regardless of the The Global Times, published by the People’s Daily, complained about the impact on relations with China.

Beijing: US balloon incident a serious provocation

“Turning an accident into a farce through force majeure highlights the incompetence of the US to deal with a crisis,” commented the paper, which is also used as an English-language mouthpiece for propaganda. “The US’s rude handling of the balloon incident is a serious provocation that risks derailing US-China relations.”

Earlier, Vice Secretary of State Xie Feng argued that the US’s launch of the balloon “seriously hampered efforts and progress on both sides to stabilize ties since Chinese leader Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden met in November and damaged”. Xie Feng is touted as the new Chinese ambassador to Washington.

After the balloon was shot down over the USA, the debris is being salvaged off the coast of South Carolina. Further details about the flying object were announced on Monday. The balloon was about 200 feet tall and probably weighed as much as a small airliner, said US Northern Command commander Glen VanHerck. The investigators want to salvage as much as possible – also to evaluate the devices on board.

The debris field has an approximate size of 1500 by 1500 meters, said VanHerck. Due to the swell, the work under water was initially made more difficult. The operation takes place in around 15 meters of water.

dpa

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