Tag: Blinken

Blinken postpones his Beijing trip after a Chinese balloon is spotted over Montana

February 5, 2023 sNawaWebs.ADV

Updated February 3, 2023 at 9:33 PM ET

The U.S. State Department says Secretary Antony Blinken has postponed his trip to Beijing amid concerns about a Chinese surveillance balloon flying over U.S. airspace.

The Pentagon said Thursday it had “very high confidence” that the high-altitude surveillance balloon came from China and is being used to collect information from sensitive sites.

China’s foreign affairs ministry confirmed on Friday that the balloon is theirs, but called it a “civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological purposes,” that had gone off course by accident.

“Affected by the Westerlies and with limited self-steering

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Blinken postpones China trip over spy balloon incident

February 3, 2023 sNawaWebs.ADV

Reuters, WASHINGTON/BEIJING

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has postponed a visit to China that had been expected to start on Friday after a Chinese spy balloon was tracked flying across the country, a US official said.

ABC News cited an US official as saying Blinken did not want to blow the situation out of proportion by canceling his visit, but also did not want the balloon incident to dominate his meetings with Chinese officials.

A US official confirmed the postponement to Reuters.

Photo: AP

China earlier expressed regret that what it called a “civilian” airship had strayed into US

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to visit Canada at a tense time for the world

October 28, 2022 sNawaWebs.ADV

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Canada later this week — a trip that comes as the West grapples with a series of major geopolitical issues, such as the ongoing war in Ukraine and the deteriorating situation in Haiti.

The trip follows Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly’s recent visit to Washington, D.C.

Like that September meeting, the country’s top diplomats are expected to discuss the situation in Iran — where activists are demanding an end to the oppressive regime — the West’s posture in the Indo-Pacific region after Chinese President Xi Jinping recently consolidated power and how best

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