Suspected Chinese Balloon Tracked In US

A suspected Chinese surveillance balloon has been tracked by the US and Canada.

The US defense officials said they were confident the balloon belonged to China and was flying over sensitive sites in the western state of Montana.

The US military decided against shooting it down because of the risk of falling debris. Canada said it was monitoring a potential second incident but didn’t say who was behind it. The object flew over Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, Canada and finally appeared in Montana.

The US had raised the matter with Chinese officials, who are trying to verify the reports.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that making conjectures and hyping up the issue would not help to resolve it.

The incident is likely to increase tensions ahead of the US Secretary of State’s visit to China next week.