China says it reserves right to respond to downing of surveillance balloon

U.S. officials confirmed that previous balloon incidents involving China occurred near Hawaii and Guam last year.

In February 2022, a balloon appeared to be stationary in international waters northwest of Kauai, Hawaii, the officials said.

The Hawaii incident came shortly after a similar incident that year near Guam, according to one of the officials.

Both incidents in the Pacific involved high-altitude balloons that came from China, the officials said.

-ABC News' Luis Martinez

The so-called "Gang of 8" will receive a briefing from the administration on the Chinese surveillance balloon next week, according to a spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

The "Gang of 8" includes congressional leadership and the top Democrat and Republican members of the House and Senate intelligence committees: Schumer, Sen. Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, Sen. Marco Rubio, Sen. Mark Warner, Rep. Jim Himes and Rep. Mike Turner.

The exact date and time of the briefing is not yet known.

-ABC News' Allison Pecorin

As the balloon appears to be heading toward North Carolina, the current thinking is to wait until it is over the Atlantic Ocean to then try to shoot it down and retrieve it, according to a senior U.S. official familiar with the situation.

There is too great a risk to try to shoot it down over the continental U.S., the official said. Since the U.S. wants to keep the balloon to study it, and there are otherwise risks of an international incident, U.S. officials are working on plans to shoot it down so that it also lands in U.S. territorial waters, the official said.

A substantial localized airspace shutdown will likely be required in order to protect civilians while the U.S. tries to down the balloon, which is likely being navigated via Chinese spy satellites, the official said.

-ABC News' Josh Margolin

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, taking questions about the Chinese surveillance balloon, said the first step should be getting it out of U.S. skies.

"Job One is getting it out of our airspace," he said.

Blinken said they've made it clear to China the action is "clearly unacceptable" and addressed further his decision to delay traveling to Beijing until conditions allow for a visit.

"Any country that has its airspace violated in this way, I think would respond similarly," he said. "And I can only imagine what the reaction would be in China if they were on the other end."