US balloons often flew over China
More than 10 such incidents since last year dealt with calmly by Beijing, ministry says
China said on Feb 13 that high-altitude balloons from the United States had flown over the Chinese airspace more than 10 times since the beginning of last year without permission from Beijing.
“It is not an uncommon thing for US balloons to illegally enter other countries’ airspace,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said, noting that China has dealt with the US balloons in a responsible and professional way.
Wang made the remarks at a regular news briefing in Beijing as Washington continued dramatizing the accidental entry of a Chinese civilian airship into American airspace.
In one of the latest moves after the US military shot down the Chinese airship earlier this month, the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security said on Feb 10 that it has blacklisted six Chinese entities that it said were linked to Beijing’s aerospace programs, including those involving airships and balloons.
Wang said: “We strongly deplore and oppose this. China will take all necessary measures to firmly safeguard the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies and organizations.”
He added that Washington is using the illegal unilateral sanctions against Chinese institutions to play up the situation.
China urges the US to appropriately handle accidents caused by force majeure in a calm, professional and restrained manner, Wang said, noting that the two sides are maintaining necessary communication.
The spokesman reiterated Beijing’s firm opposition to Washington’s overreaction by using force to deal with the Chinese airship, saying that it is the US that has been abusing its technological advantages to conduct large-scale, indiscriminate surveillance and theft of secrets across the world, including against its allies.
Given such infringements on other countries’ sovereignty and interests, which also violate international law and basic norms governing international relations, Wang said no country has a better claim to the titles of spy state and surveillance state than the US.
He also mentioned Washington’s frequent close-in surveillance around China, which seriously threatens China’s national security and undermines regional peace and stability.
“The US side should check on its own behavior, instead of smearing others and instigating confrontation,” Wang said.
According to the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative, a Beijing-based think tank, US reconnaissance aircraft flew 657 missions to the South China Sea last year and 64 such flights in January this year.
Earlier, China said on Feb 9 that it rejected the United States’ request for a phone conversation between the two countries’ defense ministers after Washington insisted on using force by shooting down an unmanned Chinese civilian airship.
“China cannot accept the US proposal given the irresponsible and severely wrongful practice of the US side, which did not create the due atmosphere for the two militaries to carry out dialogue and exchanges,” said Senior Colonel Tan Kefei, spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense.
Tan confirmed that the US had requested a call between the two defense ministers in order to communicate with China after the US shot down the Chinese airship.
The way that the US handled the incident seriously violated international practices and set a bad precedent, he said.
“China reserves the right to respond as necessary in light of similar situations,” Tan said.
Last week, a civilian airship from China used for research purposes entered US airspace after deviating far from its planned course. The Chinese side had, after verification, repeatedly informed the US side of the civilian nature of the airship and conveyed that its entry into the US due to force majeure was totally unexpected.