SYRACUSE, New York (Reuters) – President Joe Biden said on Saturday that the United States is “going to take care of” a suspected Chinese spy balloon that has been tracked flying across the United States.
Biden made his remark in response to a question about whether the United States would shoot down the high-altitude surveillance balloon, which has been flying across the country in what Washington calls a “clear violation” of U.S. sovereignty.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed a visit to China that had been expected to start on Friday because of the balloon.
The president did not elaborate on what was planned. Military leaders considered shooting down the high-altitude surveillance balloon this week but eventually recommended against this because of the risk of falling debris, officials said.
China expressed regret that an “airship” used for civilian meteorological and other scientific purposes had strayed into U.S. airspace.
The Pentagon said on Friday that another Chinese balloon was observed over Latin America, without saying where exactly.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Writing by Diane Bartz; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Marguerita Choy)
