China on Monday accused the United States of using indiscriminate force to shoot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon, saying it “seriously affected the efforts and progress of the two sides in stabilizing China-US relations and Damage done.”
The US shot down the balloon off the Carolina coast after passing over sensitive military sites in North America. China insisted that the flyover was an accident involving a civilian aircraft.
Vice Foreign Minister Xi Feng said he reported “an attack on a Chinese civilian unmanned airship by U.S. military forces” at the US embassy on Sunday.
“However, the United States turned a deaf ear and insisted on the indiscriminate use of force against civilian airships that were about to leave United States airspace, clearly in excess of and contrary to international law and the spirit of international practice.” seriously violated,” Xie said.
The appearance of the balloon in the skies above the US dealt a severe blow to already strained US-Chinese relations which have been on a downward spiral for years. This prompted Secretary of State Antony Blinken to abruptly cancel a high-stakes Beijing trip aimed at reducing tensions.
Xi reiterated China’s insistence that the balloon was a Chinese civilian unmanned airship accidentally flown into US airspace, calling it an “accident caused by unforeseen events”.
China will “resolutely defend the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies, resolutely safeguard China’s interests and dignity and reserve the right to make further necessary responses,” he said.
US officials said US President Joe Biden issued the shootdown order after he was advised that the best time for the operation would be when it was above water. Military officials determined that bringing the balloon down to the ground from an altitude of 60,000 feet (18,000 m) would pose an undue risk to those on the ground.
Xi, referring to the recent meeting between Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Indonesia, said, “What the US has done has seriously reflected the efforts and progress made by both sides in stabilizing China-US relations since the Bali meeting.” severely affected and damaged.” Many had hoped that would generate positive momentum to improve relations which have dropped to their lowest level in years.
Foreign ministry spokesman Mao Ning on Monday offered no new details, reiterating China’s insistence that the object was a civilian balloon for meteorological research, had low maneuverability and accidentally veered off course into US airspace. Entered. He also did not say what additional steps China intended to take in response to Washington’s handling of the issue and the cancellation of Blinken’s visit, making him the highest-ranking US official since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Would have become
“We have said that this is a completely isolated and accidental incident, which is unexpected,” Mao told a daily briefing, but the U.S. “is an unacceptable and irresponsible action.”
Balloons believed to be Chinese or thought to be Chinese have been seen from Latin America to Japan. Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihiko Isozaki told reporters on Monday that a flying object similar to the plane shot down by the US has been sighted in northern Japan at least twice since 2020.
“We are continuing to analyze them in relation to the latest case in the United States,” he said.
Mao confirmed that a balloon recently seen over Latin America was Chinese, describing it as a civilian airship used for flight tests.
“Affected by the weather and due to its limited self-control ability, the airship seriously deviated from its intended route and accidentally entered the space of Latin America and the Caribbean,” Mao said.
Washington and Beijing are at loggerheads on a range of issues from trade to human rights, but China remains most sensitive to alleged violations of its sovereignty and territorial integrity by the US and others.
Beijing strongly opposes US military sales to Taiwan and visits by foreign politicians to the island, which it claims as Chinese territory, to be recovered by force if necessary.
This led to the then-U.S. Reacted to the visit to 2022 by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi fired missiles at the island and threatened military exercises, seen as a rehearsal for an invasion or blockade. Beijing has suspended discussions with the US on issues not related to military tensions, including climate change.
Last week, Mao warned Pelosi’s successor, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, not to travel to Taiwan, implying that China’s response would be equally vocal.
Mao said, “China will resolutely defend its sovereignty, security and development interests.” McCarthy said China has no right to decide where and when he can travel.
China also objects to when foreign military surveillance planes fly off its coast in international airspace and when US and other foreign warships pass through the Taiwan Strait, accusing them of being active provocateurs.
In 2001, a US Navy aircraft on routine patrol off the Chinese coast collided with a Chinese fighter plane, killing the Chinese fighter pilot and damaging the US aircraft, which had to make an emergency landing at a Chinese naval air base on a southern Chinese island. Was forced to land. Hainan Province. China detained a 24-member US Navy aircrew for 10 days, until the US expressed regret over the death of the Chinese pilot and the ground landing without permission.
The South China Sea is another major source of tension. China firmly claims the strategically important sea and protests when US Navy ships pass Chinese military facilities there.
In a press conference Friday with his South Korean counterpart, Blinken said, “The presence of this surveillance balloon over the United States in our skies is a clear violation of our sovereignty, a clear violation of international law, and is categorically unacceptable.” And we have made that clear to China.”
Blinken said, “Any country that has its airspace violated in this way, I would imagine would react in a similar way, and I can only imagine what the reaction would be in China if they were on the other end.” Would have.”
The Chinese weather balloon explanation should be rejected outright, said Oriana Skylar Mastro, an expert on Chinese military affairs and foreign policy at Stanford University.
“It’s kind of a standard thing that countries often say about surveillance assets,” Mastro said.
Mastro said that China may have made a mistake and lost control of the balloon, but it was not a deliberate attempt to disrupt Blinken’s journey.
For the US administration, the decision to go public and then shoot down the balloon marks a break from its usual approach of dealing with Beijing on such matters in private, possibly in hopes of changing China’s future behaviour.
However, Mastro said, it was unlikely that Beijing would respond positively.
“They’re probably going to dismiss it and things will continue. So I don’t really see a clear path forward for relations to improve in the near future.”