The second enormous floating balloon seen above Latin America recently belonged to China, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
The balloon, which China claims was used for "flight tests," veered off course significantly as a result of the weather and the aircraft's limited steering capabilities.
This Is The First Time China Has Admitted To Owning The Surveillance Balloon
The country's justification is much the same as the one it provided to support the balloon that landed over Montana and was allegedly a surveillance balloon, according to Gizmodo.
The alleged Chinese spy balloon was shot down by the US Military on Saturday off South Carolina while it was traveling across the Atlantic Ocean.
All of these instances come before reports of another spy balloon sighting over Latin American countries, to which China finally owned up to.
"We have informed all relevant parties and appropriately handled the situation, which did not pose any threats to any countries," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.
Mao also claimed that China presents itself as a responsible country, which is why it has always abided strictly by international laws, CNN World reports.
The representative went on to say that the nations the second surveillance balloon passed over had "expressed their understanding" of the situation.
Whether or not anyone in Colombia and Costa Rica understood the balloon, they both acknowledged its presence in their airspace.
The Colombian Air Force reported seeing an object with "characteristics similar to those of a balloon" on Saturday as it was traveling at a height of 55,000 feet and a speed of roughly 28 miles per hour.
After tracking the object until it crossed the border, the nation came to the conclusion that it posed no threat to aviation safety or national security.
The chairman of Costa Rica's Civil Aviation Authority, Fernando Naranjo Elizondo, claimed that his organization knew very little about the balloon.
Read More: Pentagon Monitors Suspected Chinese Spy Balloon Hovering Over The US
The Recent Spy Balloon Sightings Have Caused Commotions In America
CNN World notes that for the majority of last week, a similar high-altitude Chinese balloon was flying over the US.
On January 28, as it drifted eastward over Alaska, the North American Aerospace Defense Command made its initial observation.
The balloon then crossed Canada into the US and, according to officials, loitered for a while over classified missile locations in Montana.
The Pentagon followed the balloon for several days as it traveled across the northern United States before US military fighter planes shot it down over the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday.
Outraged that the plane was shot down, China reiterated their earlier allegations that the balloon was for civilian use and that it accidently drifted into US territory.
Vice Foreign Minister of China Xie Feng accused the US on Monday of employing "indiscriminate use of force" against a civilian aircraft, which China claimed was being used for meteorology.
Because of this controversy, Xie claimed he had complained about the event to the American embassy, Gizmodo details.
Xie also adds that the US Military "obviously overreacted and seriously violated the spirit of international law and international practice."
By shooting down the balloon, Xie continued, the US had negatively impacted and harmed efforts to rebuild relations between the two nations.
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