(Washington) A second Chinese balloon has been spotted over Latin America, the Pentagon announced on Friday, a new twist in an affair that is throwing a chill between Washington and Beijing, the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken having postponed a visit to China.
The day before, the United States had announced the presence of a first Chinese spy balloon in their airspace.
Although the Chinese authorities had to express their “regrets” for this “involuntary” intrusion according to them, Washington deemed the affront “unacceptable” and decided in extremis on Friday to cancel the trip of the American Secretary of State which was planned for Sunday. and Monday.
Mr. Blinken told his counterpart Wang Yi, denouncing “an irresponsible act and a clear violation of the sovereignty of the United States which undermines the purpose of the trip”.
“The priority now is to get this spy device out of our airspace,” he told a news conference.
Later in the day, the Pentagon spokesman announced the presence of “another Chinese spy balloon”, this time flying over Latin America, without specifying its exact location.