US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he will not put a firm date or time on conditions for future travel to China being met, following the postponement of a trip to Beijing due to the detection of a Chinese balloon over the United States
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th February, 2023) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he will not put a firm date or time on conditions for future travel to China being met, following the postponement of a trip to Beijing due to the detection of a Chinese balloon over the United States.
"We will look to see about doing the trip when conditions allow. I'm not going to put a date or time on that," Blinken said on Friday.
The United States is focused on making sure the ongoing incident is resolved, Blinken said, adding that the first step is getting the balloon out of US airspace.
Earlier on Friday, the State Department announced that Blinken would not leave for Beijing later in the day as initially planned after the Defense Department made public the discovery of the Chinese balloon over the continental United States. Although Washington says the balloon is carrying surveillance systems, Beijing claims the balloon is a civilian airship engaged in scientific research.
