Blinken’s China trip postponed over Chinese balloon

Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s Beijing trip has been postponed due to concerns over the suspected Chinese spy balloon flying over the U.S., according to a Washington, D.C.-based foreign diplomat.

“We were told this morning” by the State Department, the diplomat told POLITICO. The diplomat was granted anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak on the record.

Blinken had been scheduled to meet with top officials in China Feb. 5-6 in a follow-up to President Joe Biden’s meeting with Chinese paramount leader Xi Jinping in Bali in November, in which Biden pledged to “maintain open lines of communication” with Beijing at a time of worsening bilateral tensions.