Costa Rica receives apologies from China for surveillance balloon in its airspace

China apologized to Costa Rica for the balloon that flew over the airspace of the Central American country on Thursday, the Costa Rican Ministry of Foreign Relations reported on Monday, after another alleged spy balloon from Beijing flew over the United States sparking great controversy.

The Asian power recognized on Monday the ownership of a balloon that passed through Latin America, after the first device that the United States detected in its territory at the beginning of the week, which denounced as “violation of sovereignty” and finally shot down.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, through its Embassy in San José, apologized for the incident,” the Costa Rican Foreign Ministry responded to a query from Reuters.

“The balloon that was observed from various parts of the national territory was of a civil nature and had scientific, mainly meteorological, purposes,” added the Foreign Ministry based on the Chinese report, according to which the object deviated from its original route due to meteorological problems and limited capacity for self-direction.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said earlier on Monday that the balloon sighted in Latin America came from the Asian country and was for civilian purposes.

The Costa Rican Civil Aviation Directorate received numerous reports of observing the balloon, according to its boss, Fernando Naranjo, who reported that it was impossible to detect its subsequent location or its purpose.

The Colombian Air Force also reported on Saturday that a possible balloon had been detected in its air defense system on Friday.

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