US-made balloons have been detected carrying out incursions into China's airspace at least 10 times since January 2022, according to China’s Foreign Ministry.
“It is nothing rare for US balloons to illegally enter other country’s airspace... The US needs to reflect upon its own behavior, instead of slandering, smearing and provoking confrontation," the ministry's spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, stated at a regular press briefing in Beijing on Monday.
In response to the US rhetoric following the recent balloon incident, the spokesman indicated that China reserved the right to "take necessary means to deal with relevant incidents.”
The fact that a Chinese civilian unmanned airship carried out an unintended incursion into US airspace was due to unavoidable accidental circumstances, Wang Wenbin added. The shooting down of the balloon, which China insists was engaged in scientific research but fell victim to high winds, was denounced by the ministry as indiscriminate use of force.
As for the US, it was described by the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson as the world's largest repeat offender when it came to spying and indiscriminate use of surveillance. Washington has repeatedly sent aircraft and warships to carry out reconnaissance on China, with 64 flights in the South China Sea in January this year alone, the ministry's spokesperson underscored, adding that this seriously jeopardizes China's national security, while also undermining regional peace and stability.
China's response to US high-altitude balloons illegally flying over Chinese airspace was at all times "responsible and professional," Wang said.
The balloon that ignited the latest row was first spotted near Alaska before traveling over Canada and eventually being downed off the coast of South Carolina on February 4. The United States delayed shooting down the craft for several days, claiming that it was too dangerous to do over land. It was only after the balloon floated off the coast that President Joe Biden ordered it to be shot down.
The United States used F-22 fighter jets and downed the balloon using an AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missile, according to the Pentagon, with a spokesperson later telling reporters that they had no doubt that the craft was used for surveillance.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry expressed protest over the use of force and "the US attack on the civilian unmanned airship."