China stalls Blinken's Beijing visit over spy balloon concerns: Financial Times

BEIJING - China has refused to let United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken visit Beijing over concerns that the Federal Bureau of Investigation will release the results of an investigation into the downed suspected Chinese spy balloon, the Financial Times reported on Saturday, citing sources.

China told the US it was not prepared to reschedule a trip that

Mr Blinken had cancelled back in February

while it remains unclear what US President Joe Biden’s administration would do with the report, the newspaper said, citing four people familiar with the negotiations.

Last week, Mr Blinken said he would pursue a visit to China “when the conditions are right”. He added that the goal is not to contain China or engage in a new Cold War.

Earlier in April, the Pentagon said it could not confirm reports that a Chinese spy balloon had been able to transmit intelligence in real time back to China as it flew over sensitive military sites in the US earlier in 2023, adding that American analysis was ongoing.

The suspected surveillance balloon passed into US airspace north of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands on Jan 28.

It spent a week flying over the US and Canada before

the military shot it down off the Atlantic Coast

on Mr Biden’s orders. REUTERS