China reportedly denied a request for a secure call between Pentagon head Lloyd Austin and his counterpart on the day an American warplane shot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon.
"On Saturday, Feb 4, immediately after taking action to down the PRC balloon, the DOD submitted a request for a secure call between Secretary Austin and PRC Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe," Brigadier General Pat Ryder said in a statement, referring to the People's Republic of China.
"Unfortunately, the PRC has declined our request. Our commitment to open lines of communication will continue," Ryder added.
Austin and Wei met in Cambodia in November as Washington and Beijing worked to defuse tensions following the visit of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which infuriated China.
After quietly circling the center of the U.S., purportedly over many top-secret military locations, the balloon moved east, where it was shot down by a fighter jet on Saturday.
However, the balloon incident has increased tensions, prompting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel a trip to Beijing.
China asserts that the balloon was an errant weather observation aircraft with no military intent, although the United States has described it as a sophisticated high-altitude surveillance vehicle.
Monday, President Joe Biden justified the decision to wait until the balloon had crossed the country before bringing it down, stating that the Defense Department determined it would be most effective to do so over sea.
John Kirby, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, claimed on the same day that procedures were made to "mitigated" the balloon's instruments' ability to spy during the flyover, while "at the same time increasing and improving our ability to collect intelligence and information from it."
General Glen VanHerck, the chief of the U.S. Northern Command, stated that a naval ship would map the debris field left by the balloon in the Atlantic, which is projected to measure approximately 1,500 meters by 1,500 meters.
He stated that the balloon itself measured up to 60 meters in height and carried a cargo weighing several thousand pounds and roughly the size of a regional jet aircraft.
VanHerck stated the debris from the balloon would be thoroughly examined.
"I don't know where the debris is going to go for a final analysis, but I will tell you that certainly the intel community along with the law enforcement community that works this under counterintelligence will take a good look at it," he said.
