Secretary of State Antony Blinken Postpones Trip to China Following Spy Balloon Over Skies of Montana

Secretary of State Antony Blinken postpones his trip to China, following the discovery of a Chinese spy balloon flying over Montana Thursday evening.

The U.S. Department of Defense began tracking the balloon and so far has decided against shooting it down.

CNN Senior National Security Correspondent Alex Marquardt broke the news this morning on CNN that Blinken, whose was scheduled to depart to China Friday evening, would now be postponing his trip.

“We understand from two US officials that this trip to China by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has been postponed. Obviously this comes amid this revelation of this really audacious sending of this Chinese spy balloon across the border into the United States,” Marquardt said.

“Blinken had been slated to be the highest ranking Biden administration official to visit China since President Biden took office. President Biden himself, he met with Xi Jinping last November on the sidelines of the G20,” Marquardt added.

Marquardt added that Blinken’s meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs Qin Gang was set to be a continuation of the meeting Biden had in November with Xi Jinping.

According to NBC, a senior State Department official said, “After consultations with our interagency partners, as well as with Congress, we have concluded that the conditions are not right at this moment for Secretary Blinken to travel to China.”

The department will decide when the right time is to follow through with the trip and also clarified that although the trip has been postponed, communication between the U.S. and China has not ceased.