The Chinese balloon that floated over US airspace last week before being shot down by a US military jet Saturday has raised questions of international law on both the US and Chinese sides. The US claims that the balloon was a spy balloon, while China maintains that it was a civilian scientific research balloon that had strayed off course.
On Friday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken canceled a planned trip to Beijing. Speaking at a news conference, Blinken said:
It’s very important to emphasize that the presence of this surveillance balloon over the United States, in our skies, is