China Issues Statement Following Reports of a Suspected Spy Balloon Over Montana
UPDATE : Fox News reports a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson confirmed on Friday: “The airship is from China. It is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes. Affected by the Westerlies…

UPDATE :
Fox News reports a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson confirmed on Friday: “The airship is from China. 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 added: “The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into US airspace due to force majeure. The Chinese side will continue communicating with the US side and properly handle this unexpected situation caused by force majeure.”
China has issued a response to reports of a suspected spy balloon spotted flying over Montana.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said during a Friday briefing, “China is a responsible country and we act in accordance with international law. We have no intention to violate other countries’ sovereignty and airspace.”
She continued, “And as I said, we are gathering and verifying the facts. We hope relevant parties would handle the matter in a cool-headed way.”
Ning also suggested judgment should be withheld “before we have a clear understanding of the facts.”
Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement once the balloon was detected, “The U.S. government acted immediately to protect against the collection of sensitive information.”
A defense official told Fox News


