The Beijing government on Saturday rejected a US offer for a phone call between Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and his counterpart Wei Fenghe shortly after the US Air Force shot down a Chinese balloon, the government said. Tuesday the US Department of Health Defense.
“Our commitment to keep communication channels open will continue,” promised General Pat Ryder, spokesman for the Pentagon, however, after this rejection that confirms the deterioration in relations between the two leading world powers.
“The Chinese Communist Party rejected our request”
The US military shot down on Saturday, off the coast of South Carolina, this Chinese balloon considered by the Pentagon to be a spy balloon, intended to collect sensitive information. Beijing maintains for its part that it was a civil aerostat, mainly intended to collect meteorological data.
“On Saturday, February 4, just after taking steps to bring down the Chinese Communist Party balloon, the (US) Department of Defense filed a secure call request between Minister Austin and Chinese Secretary of Defense Wei Fenghe ”, General Ryder detailed. .
“Communications between our militaries are particularly important at times like these. Unfortunately, the Chinese Communist Party has rejected our request,” he added.
The Chinese government said Monday that the United States, by shooting down the Chinese balloon flying over its territory, had “severely affected and damaged” relations between the two countries.
Source: BFM TV
