WASHINGTON/BEIJING: As the UN urged both sides to lower tensions in the aftermath of a suspected Chinese ‘spy balloon’ in American airspace, the United States claimed to have spotted another surveillance balloon though Beijing claimed China has never violated the territory and airspace of any sovereign country.

“We are concerned with whenever there are heightened tensions between China and the US and this is a theme that the Secretary-General has often referred to in various speeches,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. “On this particular incident, obviously the two will have to navigate it. But given the global leadership position of both countries, I think it is incumbent on them to do whatever they can to lower tensions.”

However, Pentagon spokesman said the first balloon headed eastwards over the central United States. “We are seeing reports of a balloon transiting Latin America,” spokesman Pat Ryder added. “We now assess it is another Chinese surveillance balloon,” he said, without specifying its exact location.

Biden’s administration desc­ri­bed it as a maneuverable “surveillance balloon”, prompting Antony Blinken to postpone a two-day visit to China.

On Saturday, China’s foreign ministry in a statement claimed, “China... never violated the territory and airspace of any sovereign country. Some politicians and media in the US used the incident as a pretext to attack and smear China.”

About Blinken’s trip, it said: “As a matter of fact, neither China nor the United States has announced any visit. It is the United States’ own decision to release the relevant information and we respect that.”

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reported that the US is considering new sanctions on Chinese surveillance companies. US authorities are in advanced discussions on the sanctions and have zeroed in on Tiandy Technologies Co whose products have been sold to units of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the report added.

Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2023