WASHINGTON — The Biden administration postponed Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s upcoming trip to Beijing after detecting a Chinese surveillance balloon that was lingering at high altitude over sensitive nuclear sites in Montana.
The Chinese balloon was a clear violation of U.S. sovereignty, and the U.S. determined conditions weren’t right now for the planned trip, a senior State Department official told reporters Friday. Blinken will travel to China at an appropriate time, the official said.
Blinken was set to have meetings in Beijing early next week in the first such visit by a top U.S. diplomat in five years. But the presence of the balloon — which the Pentagon decided not to shoot down — led officials to decide that going now would send the wrong signal, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing internal deliberations.
