WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today released the below statement in support of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s decision to postpone his planned travel to Beijing in response to the discovery of a surveillance balloon from the People Republic of China in U.S. airspace:
“I am deeply disappointed by the discovery of the People’s Republic of China’s surveillance balloon over the United States, particularly on the eve of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s scheduled trip to Beijing. This is a brazen and unequivocal violation of U.S. sovereignty and international law by a country that claims to be a responsible actor, and I support Secretary Blinken’s decision to postpone his travel.
“I look forward to receiving prompt and thorough intelligence from the Biden administration as we continue to monitor the situation, and to discussing the full spectrum of the Administration’s policy toward China at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s upcoming hearing on U.S.-China relations.”
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