In the latest jab over aerial surveillance, China said Monday that high-altitude balloons from the United States had flown over Chinese airspace without permission more than 10 times since the start of last year.
Wang Wenbin, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said it was a “common occurrence” for U.S. high-altitude balloons to “illegally enter the airspace of other countries,” while providing no further details.
China’s claims were swiftly rejected by the United States. “Any claim that the U.S. government operates surveillance balloons over the PRC is false,” said Adrienne Watson, a National Security Council spokesperson, referring to the People’s Republic of China.
“This is the latest example of China scrambling to do damage control,” Watson said in a statement.
In Beijing, Wang reiterated China’s position that the Chinese balloon that floated over the United States this month before being shot down was a civilian airship that had accidentally strayed into U.S. airspace. U.S. officials called it a surveillance craft.
Wang urged the United States “to reflect on itself and mend its ways, instead of slandering, smearing or inciting confrontation.”
The comments, made at a news briefing by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, followed a busy weekend of aerial theatrics as U.S. fighter jets shot down three unidentified flying objects over North America. U.S. officials are still uncertain about what the objects were, who sent them and what purpose they were meant to serve.
Asked about the unidentified objects that the United States shot down, Wang said he was unaware of the situation.
In China, local authorities near a northern port city said Sunday they had spotted their own unidentified flying object and were prepared to shoot it down, according to Chinese state-owned media.
A local government marine agency warned nearby fishing boats to be careful of possible falling debris, the report said. But as of Monday afternoon in Beijing, there was no official announcement about the object or whether authorities had fired at it.
President Joe Biden ordered the U.S. military to shoot down the Chinese balloon off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4, a few days after it was spotted hovering over Montana.
The balloon’s discovery prompted Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel a planned visit to Beijing over what he called an “irresponsible act.” A senior administration official said the craft had flown over sensitive military sites in the United States and Canada.
Days after that balloon was shot down, China acknowledged that a second Chinese balloon had been floating over Latin America and the Caribbean. As it had in the case of the balloon over Montana, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said the second airship was civilian in nature, had also been affected by the weather and had “deviated far from its planned course.”
The United States had said the second balloon was another Chinese surveillance balloon. The Colombian air force said it had tracked the object until it left the country’s airspace, adding that officials determined it did not pose a threat to national security.
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