US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken canceled his China trip after a Chinese spy balloon was spotted |U.S. Embassy Nigeria|Public Domain

Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State, postponed his Beijing trip indefinitely, the first by a top American diplomat since 2018, after a suspected Chinese spy balloon was spotted over the United States airspace.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry in a Friday statement acknowledged the balloon was from China “The airship is from China. It is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological purposes,” the statement said.

The spy balloon was spotted over Montana two days back and was hovering over Malmstrom Air Force Base, which has three US nuclear missile silo fields. The Pentagon said it “acted immediately” and took measures to protect sensitive information.

Meanwhile, a day after the first craft was spotted, a second Chinese balloon was reportedly flying over Latin America, according to the Pentagon.