China is said to have rejected a US request to discuss its spy balloon that was spotted entering the country's airspace last week.
Pentagon Press Secretary Pat Ryder said on Tuesday that he had submitted a request for a phone call between US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe.
Even so, Beijing has rejected the request even though the incident is seen to have worsened the already shaky relationship between the two countries.
Last week, the US reported that there was a suspicious 'balloon' hovering in its airspace for days and believed it belonged to Beijing..
The balloon was however shot down by a US Air Force fighter jet off the coast of South Carolina after making sure it was safe to land.
The incident sparked a political uproar in Washington that prompted top US diplomat Anthony Blinken to cancel his visit to the country.
However, China said it was just a weather balloon that had 'missed' into US airspace and accused the White House's reaction of being excessive.
