WASHINGTON – Beijing rejected a request for a safe name between Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and his counterpart on the day an American warplane shot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon, a US spokesman stated Tuesday.
“On Saturday, 4 February, immediately after taking action to down the PRC balloon, the DOD submitted a request for a secure call between Secretary Austin and PRC Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe,” Department of Defense Brigadier General Pat Ryder stated in an announcement, referring to the People’s Republic of China.
“Unfortunately, the PRC has declined our request. Our commitment to open lines of communication will continue,” Ryder added.
China says the balloon was an errant climate commentary plane with no navy objective, however Washington has described it as a classy high-altitude spying car.
After slowly traversing the center of the United States, reportedly over a number of high secret navy websites, the balloon headed out over the east coast.
A US fighter airplane shot down the balloon Saturday simply off the coast over the Atlantic, and naval and coast guard forces are presently recovering the particles for intelligence evaluation. — Agence France-Presse
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
