China regrets airship's 'unintended' entry into US airspace

ISTANBUL

Beijing on Friday said it regrets the “unintended entry” of a Chinese airship into US airspace.

“It is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“Affected by the Westerlies and with limited self-steering capability, the airship deviated far from its planned course,” it added.

The Pentagon earlier said it was tracking a suspected Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon over continental US.

“The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into US airspace due to force majeure,” the statement said.

Beijing will “continue communicating with the US side and properly handle this unexpected situation caused by force majeure,” it added.