Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed an approaching trip to Beijing Friday after a suspected Chinese spy balloon was spotted floating high above the northern continental United States, U.S. officials said. Blinken would’ve been the highest-ranking Biden Administration official to visit China and the first U.S. secretary of state to go to Beijing in six years. “I can tell you that the balloon continues to move eastward and is currently over the center of the continental United States,” Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Pat Ryder said Friday. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference at the Waldorf Astoria in Jerusalem on Jan. 31, 2023. Surveillance balloons have been spotted above the United States before, U.S. officials said, but this one was acting differently than previous such airships.

Source: Wall Street Journal February 04, 2023 16:26 UTC