Tensions deepen, the Pentagon reveals what is happening in the sky: A Chinese "surveillance balloon" is flying over the USA. VOA publishes the details

An object suspected to be a Chinese "surveillance balloon" has been flying over the United States for several days, and top US officials have advised President Joe Biden against ordering it to be shot down over concerns its fragments could constitute a security threat.

"It is clear that the purpose of this balloon is surveillance ," a senior American defense official told reporters on Thursday.

Relations between China and the United States, the world's two largest economies, have been strained recently, with clashes over Taiwan and China's human rights record, as well as its military activity in the China Sea. Southern.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit China in a few days

Washington has been tracking the balloon since it entered US airspace several days ago, monitoring it with US military aircraft.

Officials declined to say what altitude the balloon was flying at, but acknowledged it was operating above civilian air traffic and below "outer space."

Senior US military leaders considered the possibility of crashing the balloon over the state of Montana but ultimately recommended against such a move because of the potential safety hazard from its debris.

US officials discussed the matter with their Chinese counterparts. "We have communicated to them the seriousness with which we treat this matter," the official added.

Surveillance balloons have flown over the United States several times in recent years, but this one appears to have been circling longer than on previous occasions, the official said.

"Currently, we assess that this balloon has limited additional value from an intelligence gathering perspective, but we are still taking steps to protect against the collection of sensitive information by foreign intelligence," the official said./VOA