Requests for dialogue had been rejected by China for several days, about the surveillance balloon shot down on February 4.
SourceAFP
© Jacquelyn Martin / POOL / AP POOL / EPA
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Ihe United States communicated with Beijing about the alleged Chinese surveillance balloon, which was shot down on February 4, after requests for dialogue from the Pentagon were denied for several days, a defense official said on Sunday.
“Contacts have been made with the PRC regarding the high-altitude balloon,” Deputy Secretary of Defense Melissa Dalton told reporters, referring to the People’s Republic of China. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin had asked to speak with his Chinese counterparts shortly after a US fighter jet shot down the balloon which had been in US skies for several days.
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These demands went unheeded, with Beijing lambasting Washington’s decision to bring the ball down. “This irresponsible and seriously erroneous act has not created a climate conducive to dialogue and exchanges between the two armies”, had justified the Chinese Ministry of Defense in a press release.
“The United States insisted on using force against a Chinese civilian airship, which seriously contravenes international practice and sets a bad precedent,” according to the same source.
Melissa Dalton did not give details of the exchanges between the two powers. On Sunday, Washington announced that it had shot down a new “object” at altitude, without specifying its nature. This is the fourth object shot down over the United States or Canada in less than ten days.
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