Blinken was set to visit China from February 5 to 6 to hold talks on a wide range of issues, including security, Taiwan, and Covid-19. The balloon incident comes amid fraying tensions between both countries.

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has abruptly cancelled a trip to Beijing, calling the presence of an alleged Chinese spy balloon in US airspace an “unacceptable and irresponsible action” and a violation of the country’s sovereignty.

The top American diplomat said Friday the balloon incident “undermined” the purpose of the two-day trip, which was set to begin on Sunday and would have been the first high-level US-China meeting in years.

“It’s very important to emphasise that the presence of this surveillance balloon over the United States, in our skies, is a clear violation of our sovereignty, a clear violation of international law, and clearly unacceptable,” Blinken said.

“This is an unacceptable as well as an irresponsible action. It’s even more irresponsible coming on the eve of a long-planned visit,” he added.

US officials say the balloon is a “high-altitude surveillance” device, but China expressing regret over the incident Friday, said it was a civilian airship used for meteorological research, which had “deviated far from its planned course” because of its “limited self-steering capability”.

Accusing US politicians and media on Saturday of taking advantage of the incident to discredit Beijing, China’s foreign ministry said Beijing “has always strictly abided by international law and respected the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries”.

It also said Beijing and Washington had not announced any visit by Blinken and that “the US announcements are their own matter and we respect that”.

China’s statement came as the Pentagon said a second Chinese spy balloon had been spotted over Latin America, without giving further details about the balloon’s location.

“We are seeing reports of a balloon transiting Latin America. We now assess it is another Chinese surveillance balloon,” said Pentagon press secretary Brigadier General Patrick Ryder, who dismissed the Chinese explanation that the first balloon was a civilian aircraft for research.

A US State Department official said earlier Friday that while Blinken’s trip was postponed, lines of communication remained open between Washington and Beijing as they seek to “responsibly manage” intensifying competition between the two countries.

“Our clear assessment was that under these current conditions, it wouldn’t be constructive to visit Beijing at this time, but I’ll also reiterate that this is a postponement and the secretary plans to travel at the earliest appropriate opportunity when conditions allow,” the official added.

Blinken later said Washington was engaged with Beijing to resolve the “ongoing” issue, noting that “The first step is getting the surveillance asset out of our space. And that’s what we’re focused on.”