The Chinese government on Monday admitted a balloon spotted over Latin America on Friday is from China, but claimed it is intended for civilian use, reported BBC News.
The spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mao Ning, said the balloon had deviated from its route, having been blown off course.
Mao told reporters the balloon had “deviated greatly” from its intended route, due to the aircraft’s “limited maneuverability” and the weather conditions. She said:
The unmanned airship in question that came from China is of a civilian nature and is used for flight tests.
China is a responsible country and has always strictly abided by international law in order to inform and properly deal with all parties concerned, without posing any threat to any country.
At the weekend, Colombia’s air force said an object with “characteristics similar to those of a balloon” had been detected on 3 February in the country’s airspace at above 55 000ft.
Bogota said it had followed the object until it left the airspace, adding that it did not represent a threat to national security.
On Saturday, a similar balloon was shot down in US airspace by military jets amid allegations that it was being used for surveillance.
China has denied accusations of spying, saying it was using the balloon to monitor the weather.