China ups the ’loonacy
Vows to retaliate
China warned Wednesday that it will retaliate against the US for allegedly undermining its sovereignty after the Air Force downed a spy balloon earlier this month.
Speaking at a daily press briefing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin reiterated Beijing’s official position that the balloon was an unmanned weather airship that was accidentally blown off course — and accused the Biden administration of overreacting in shooting it down with a missile fired from an F-22 fighter jet off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4.
In the wake of the incident, the US has sanctioned six Chinese entities it said are linked to Beijing’s global-surveillance program.
“The US has abused force, overreacted, escalated the situation, and used this as a pretext to illegally sanction Chinese companies and institutions,” Wang said.
“China is firmly opposed to this and will take countermeasures against relevant US entities that undermine China’s sovereignty and security in accordance with the law.”
China will “resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and its legitimate rights and interests,” Wang added.
He did not reveal which US entities China would punish or details on planned “countermeasures.”
While China denies the balloon was a military asset, it has yet to say what government department or company was responsible for its operation.
After initially expressing regret over the balloon’s unsanctioned entry into US airspace, China has escalated its rhetoric against Washington, claiming this week the US had flown more than 10 high-altitude balloons in its airspace over the past year.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby denied that.
“Not true. Not doing it. Just absolutely not true,” he said in an interview with MSNBC on Monday. “We are not flying balloons over China.”
The latest round of recriminations comes as Secretary of State Antony Blinken is said to be weighing a meeting with China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference this week.