China on Saturday rejected a US request for a call between Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and his counterpart Wei Fenghe. The day an American fighter plane shot down a Chinese balloonThe Department of Defense announced Tuesday.
(Also read: China asks not to ‘speculate’ after the Pentagon accusation on spy balloon).
On Saturday “immediately after taking steps to shoot down the PRC balloon, the Department of Defense made a secure call request” between Austin and Wei, Pentagon spokesman Gen. Pat Ryder said, referring to the People’s Republic of China. .
“Unfortunately, the PRC rejected our request. Our commitment to open lines of communication will continue,” he added.
China claims that it was a roving weather observation balloon with no military purposeBut Washington calls it a high-altitude spy vehicle.
On Saturday after crossing the central United States, passing over several secret military installations, the balloon headed for the East Coast, where a fighter jet shot it down.
Austin and Wei met in Cambodia last November as Washington and Beijing tried to defuse tensions after a visit to Taiwan by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi angered China. But the balloon incident has raised tensions and led US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel a trip to Beijing.
(Also: At least 16 dead in a multi-traffic accident in central China.)
President Joe Biden on Monday defended the decision to wait until the balloon had crossed the country to shoot it down, saying the Department of Defense concluded it was better to shoot it over water.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the same day that action was taken to mitigate the balloon’s ability to gather information during flyby and on the contrary, the ability to recover data from this mechanism was improved.
General Glen VanHerck, head of the US Northern Command, said a Navy ship is inspecting the area to recover remains of the balloon, which was about 60 meters high and was carrying a kind of basket weighing more than a ton.
AFP
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