Neither side ever announced there would be a visit: China on Blinken cancelling his Beijing trip

China took a dig at Antony Blinken's claims of cancelling his trip to Beijing.

Beijing, Feb 04: Hours after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that he was postponing his scheduled visit to China, Beijing has made a surprising remark by claiming that neither side ever announced about his visit.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China has criticised the reaction of US media and politicians in connection with Chinese surveillance balloon hovering in the UK skies. "Regarding the unintended entry of a Chinese unmanned airship into US airspace due to force majeure, the Chinese side has verified it and communicated it to the US side. It is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes. Affected by the Westerlies and with limited self-steering capability, the airship deviated far from its planned course," the statement said.

It was all started after the balloon carrying surveillance gear as well as a payload was spotted over Montana, home to underground US military intercontinental ballistic missile silos.

"This is entirely an unexpected situation caused by force majeure and the facts are very clear. China always acts in strict accordance with international law and respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries. We have no intention to violate and has never violated the territory or airspace of any sovereign country. Some politicians and media in the US have hyped it up to attack and smear China. The Chinese side is firmly opposed to that," the statement added.

It then took at dig at Blinken's claims of cancelling his trip to China saying that neither side had announced it. "In fact, neither side has ever announced that there would be a visit. It is a matter for the US to make its latest announcement, and we respect that," the statement added.

The balloon incident comes at a time when the tensions between Washington and Beijing are high on issues ranging from Taiwan to South China sea, from human rights in western Xinjiang region to clampdown on democracy activists in Hong Kong. China's support to Russia in its invasion of Ukraine has only added to growing tensions between the two global superpowers although the two countries have cooperation on trade and counter-terrorism.

Earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that he is postponing his two-day visit to Beijing which was scheduled for this weekend.

"I spoke this morning with director of China's foreign affairs office Wang Yi to convey that in light of China's unacceptable action, I am postponing my plan of travel this weekend to China as you know President Biden and Xi agreed during their meetings in Bali in November that I would travel to Beijing," Blinken was quoted as saying at a press conference on Friday.

Blinken noted the PRC's statement of regret but conveyed that this is an irresponsible act and a clear violation of U.S. sovereignty and international law that undermined the purpose of the trip. "It's very important to emphasize that the presence of this surveillance balloon over the US in our skies is a clear violation of international law and clearly unacceptable. And we've made it clear to China. And what this has done s created the conditions that undermine the purpose of the trip including ongoing efforts to build a floor under the relationship and to address a broad range of issues that are of concern for both the countries and the world," he stated.

The Secretary explained that in light of this ongoing issue, it would not be appropriate to visit Beijing at this time. He underscored that the United States is committed to diplomatic engagement and maintaining open lines of communication, and that he would be prepared to visit Beijing as soon as conditions allow.

"So we took the step that I announced earlier today in postponing the planned visit for this weekend meanwhile, we are going to remain engaged with the PRC as this ongoing issue is resolved," he added. 

On the other hand, another Chinese spy balloon has been spotted, this time in the skies over Latin America, Pentagon said.