China says ‘spy’ balloon incident ‘hyped up’; issue overplayed by some American politicians and media to smear Beijing

Both US and Chinese governments have sought to play down the incident, insisting they will keep communication lines open. - Reuters

BEIJING, Feb 4 (The Straits Times/ANN): The threat of a Chinese balloon drifting over the United States has been overplayed by some American politicians and media to smear Beijing, China’s foreign ministry said on Saturday.

The comments come after US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken postponed a trip to Beijing to have taken place on Sunday, in light of the incident and following an outcry from lawmakers led by Republicans who have called on the Pentagon to shoot down the balloon. The US assessed it to have been a spy balloon, while the Chinese maintains it was for meteorological research.