China confirmed on Monday that the balloon that Washington spotted flying over Latin America was Chinese, after the United States shot down a similar balloon over the weekend.
Beijing confirms that the balloon that flew over Latin America is ChineseBeijing: US destruction of the Chinese airship harms relations between the two countries
"It has become understood that the unmanned airship is Chinese," said foreign ministry spokesman Mao Ning at a press briefing, noting that it "severely deviated from its intended course and accidentally ended up over Latin America and the Caribbean."
US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, announced last Saturday that the army, commissioned by President Joe Biden, shot down a Chinese balloon that was flying in US airspace.
According to the US Secretary of Defense, the device was used to monitor US strategic facilities.
For its part, China said that it does not accept baseless speculation about the background of the balloon, noting that it is a special device for studying the weather, and its deviation from its course is caused by force majeure.
China also considered the use of US military force against the Chinese civilian airship an overreaction, adding that China reserves the right to take necessary measures.
Source: "AFP" + RT