evidence: China has claimed responsibility for a balloon spotted over Montana, apologizing and stating it was used for weather research. [...] "We are aware of [China’s] statement. However, the fact is we know it’s a surveillance balloon, and I’m not going to be able to be more specific than that," Defense Department press secretary Patrick Ryder said during Friday afternoon’s briefing. "We do know that the balloon has violated U.S. airspace and international law, which is unacceptable, and we’ve conveyed that to [China] at multiple levels." [...] The Pentagon announced Thursday that a surveillance balloon it believed belonged to China was floating over Montana. The news came days before Secretary of State Antony Blinken was set to arrive in Beijing, the highest-ranking member of the Biden administration to visit the superpower.