Senior Chinese Diplomat: ‘No Point’ to Blinken Visit After Seeming US Reversal on Balloon Reaction

A senior Chinese diplomat has criticized Washington’s recent downing of a Chinese high-altitude balloon, saying the US had suggested it would react otherwise. The “irresponsible act” has made it “inappropriate” for US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to resume his plans to visit Beijing.

“The United States is exaggerating in this matter,” Lu Shaye, the Chinese ambassador to France, told French news on Monday, adding, “it is a civilian balloon used for meteorological research.”

“Indeed, what happened between China and the United States in the past few years has reduced the mutual trust between the two countries,” he added.

A day earlier, the US Air Force used a missile to shoot down the balloon off the South Carolina coast after it had wandered for days across the continent, beginning in Alaska. While the Pentagon said it had tracked the balloon since then, news agencies only caught wind of its presence once it passed over a US nuclear missile base in Montana late last week.

Beijing said the balloon was Chinese, but denied American claims that it was for surveillance, saying it was a civilian research balloon that scientists had lost control over.

“The United States is exaggerating in this matter,” Lu Shaye, the Chinese ambassador to France, told French news on Monday, adding, “it is a civilian balloon used for meteorological research.”

“At first, I think the Americans accepted this explanation, because according to the Pentagon this balloon ‘presents no military or physical threat to people on the ground,’” Lu explained. “They asked China to get the balloon out of the way as soon as possible. But what is incomprehensible is that after asking the Chinese side to do so, they knocked down the balloon the next day, when the balloon was already about to leave [US airspace].”

Blinken Postpones Trip

Initially, the US declined to take action against the balloon other than observing it, but Blinken nonetheless postponed his planned visit to Beijing that weekend to meet with senior Chinese leaders until “conditions are right.”

On Saturday, Blinken spoke by phone with Wang Yi, the head of the Communist Party of China’s foreign relations bureau and one of the officials he had been slated to meet, but took up a very different tone. Blinken called the balloon flight “an irresponsible act and a clear violation of US sovereignty and international law that undermined the purpose of the trip.”

Wang reiterated China’s position, saying that China has always followed international law and that the balloon was not for intelligence-gathering, adding that "We do not accept any groundless speculation or hype.” He also said that in the face of an unexpected situation, both sides should compose themselves, communicate in a timely manner, avoid misjudgment and manage their differences.

Persona non Grata

As a result of Blinken’s comments, Lu said the US foreign minister should be persona non grata in Beijing.

“In my opinion, the so-called visit is inappropriate, because the US has recently carried out many anti-China activities, including in military planning, technology, the Taiwan question and other aspects,” Lu said.

The US eventually decided to shoot down the balloon in order to study it, the Pentagon said on Sunday. The wreckage has been collected by the US Navy and Beijing has demanded it be returned, since it is Chinese property - a point Lu reiterated on Tuesday.

Pentagon officials have since stated that the most recent balloon, while the most egregious violation, was not the first Chinese balloon to do so, with at least three other instances discovered during the Trump administration. However, the Pentagon only found out about them after the fact, through intelligence analysis, so no action was taken against them at the time.

During the early decades of the Cold War, the US flew regular spy plane missions over Chinese territory, with at least five U-2 Dragon Lady spy planes getting shot down by Chinese air defenses. The flights reportedly ceased in the 1970s as the US normalized relations with Beijing.