For subscribers
News analysis
Chinese ‘spy’ balloon a spanner in US-China ties, but lines of communication stay open
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
A suspected Chinese spy balloon in the sky over Billings, Montana, on Feb 1, 2023.
PHOTO: AFP
WASHINGTON – A huge Chinese balloon drifting in the stratosphere some 60,000ft above central United States has put a spanner in what many hoped was budding detente between China and the United States, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken cancelling a much-anticipated trip to Beijing this weekend.
But there are hopes that the pause may be temporary.
