Another suspected surveillance balloon spotted over Latin America is from China and is for civilian purposes, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Monday in Beijing.
The Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman said the balloon entered the area "by mistake" and called for the incident to be taken calmly:
Regarding the balloon over Latin America we have verified that the aircraft in question is Chinese and is used for civilian purposes, it is used for flight tests. The balloon was affected by the weather and we have limited control over it. The aircraft deviated from its intended route and entered Latin American and Caribbean skies by mistake. The Chinese side has explained the situation several times, the United States has stated that this balloon did not pose a military or personal threat to anyone, but despite repeated statements from china insisted the use of force is an overreaction which China strongly opposes. What I want to emphasize is that both sides, especially the United States, should handle these unexpected, isolated and accidental incidents in a calm, professional and non-forceful manner.
The U.S. military said Sunday it was searching for debris from the Chinese surveillance balloon it shot down a day earlier. Meanwhile, Beijing urged the U.S. not to escalate the problem or take further steps to harm its interests.