The Pentagon is tracking a suspected Chinese spy balloon that is making its way over the northern US, a further strain on already tense relations between Washington and Beijing.
While defence officials have said the balloon’s current flight path carries it over “a number of sensitive” military sites, President Joe Biden is believed to have decided against shooting it out of the sky due to risks of falling debris.
The spy balloon, which is the size of three buses, was spotted over Billings, Montana, on Wednesday. It entered the US after flying in over the Aleutian Islands and made its way through Canada.
China has not confirmed it is behind the balloon, but official state media has taunted Washington over its appearance. “If balloons from other countries could really enter continental US smoothly... it only proves that the US’s air defence system is completely a decoration,” the state-backed Global Times wrote on Twitter.
A spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry said it is “verifying the facts” over the incident.
Washington has “very high confidence” it is a Chinese high-altitude balloon and it was flying over sensitive sites to collect information, a senior defence official said.
