The Pentagon says China declined a request for a secure call between Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart, Wei Fenghe, after the U.S. shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon.
Beijing has said the balloon was a wayward "civilian airship" used for meteorology and other scientific purposes, and the decision to shoot it out of the sky was an "overreaction." China lodged a formal complaint with the U.S. embassy in Beijing on Monday.
