The speaker of the US House of Representatives calls for an intelligence meeting on the Chinese spy balloon

Canada assures that the path of the balloon is followed by NORAD and highlights its "close coordination" with Washington

MADRID, 3 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Kevi McCarthy, has called China's spy balloon over US territory "blatant contempt for sovereignty" and has called a meeting of a group of parliamentarians in charge of dealing with intelligence information to address the matter.

"China's blatant disregard for American sovereignty is a destabilizing action that must be addressed and (American) President Joe Biden cannot remain silent. I am going to call for a Gang of Eight meeting," he said in his account on the social network Twitter, in reference to the aforementioned group of parliamentarians in charge of intelligence affairs.

Hours earlier, Republican congressmen had criticized the response of the Biden Administration and had demanded the shooting down of the spy balloon and the cancellation of the imminent trip to China by the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken.

Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder has detailed that the US military has been tracking a suspected Chinese spy balloon flying over continental US airspace in recent days. Thus, he has stated that "it does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground" at the same time that he has indicated that "he is currently traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic."

For its part, the Canadian Armed Forces have indicated in a statement that "a high-altitude surveillance balloon has been detected" and that "its movements are being actively followed by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)", a joint organization of Washington and Ottawa for the defense and air control of North America.

"Canadians are safe and Canada is taking measures to guarantee the safety of its airspace, including monitoring a potential second incident," he said, without giving further details, before stressing that there is "close coordination" with the authorities. Americans to "analyze the situation".