The Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Kevi McCarthy, has called China’s spy balloon over U.S. territory a «blatant disregard for sovereignty» and has convened a meeting of a group of parliamentarians charged with dealing with intelligence information to address the issue.
«China’s blatant disregard for U.S. sovereignty is a destabilizing action that must be addressed and (U.S.) President (Joe) Biden cannot remain silent. I will call for a meeting of the Gang of Eight,» he said on his Twitter account, referring to the aforementioned group of parliamentarians in charge of intelligence matters.
Hours earlier, Republican congressmen had criticized the response of the Biden Administration and had demanded the shooting down of the spy balloon and the cancellation of the imminent trip to China by the U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken.
Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder has detailed that the U.S. Army has been tracking in recent days a suspected Chinese spy balloon flying over U.S. mainland airspace. He said that it «does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground» while indicating that «it is currently traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic».
For its part, the Canadian Armed Forces have indicated in a statement that «a surveillance balloon has been detected at high altitude» and that «its movements are being actively tracked by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)», a joint organization of Washington and Ottawa for the defense and air control of North America.
«Canadians are safe and Canada is taking steps to ensure the safety of its airspace, including the monitoring of a potential second incident,» he said, without giving further details, before stressing that there is «close coordination» with U.S. authorities to «analyze the situation».
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
