China says it will `safeguard interests' over balloon shootdown
China said Tuesday it will “resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests” over the shooting down of a suspected Chinese spy balloon by the United States, as relations between the two countries deteriorate further.
The balloon prompted U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel a highly-anticipated visit to Beijing this week that had offered slight hopes for an improvement in relations.
China claims it was a civilian balloon used for meteorological research but has refused to say to which government department or company it belongs.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning on Tuesday reiterated that the “unmanned airship” posed no threat and entered U.S. airspace accidentally.
Mao again criticized the U.S. for overreacting rather than adopting a “calm, professional” manner, and for using force in bringing the balloon down Saturday in the Atlantic Ocean just off the U.S. coast.
Asked if China wanted the debris returned, she
only reasserted that the balloon “belongs to China.”
“The balloon does not belong to the U.S. The Chinese government will continue to resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests,” Mao said at a daily briefing without giving further details.
Beijing's attitude has hardened considerably following a surprisingly mild initial response on Friday, in which it described the balloon's presence as an accident and expressed “regret” for the balloon having entered the U.S.
Subsequent statements
have grown firmer, in the same tone used to confront the U.S. over issues from Taiwan to trade, technology restrictions and China's claim to the South China Sea. China says it lodged a formal complaint with the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, accusing Washington of having “obviously overreacted and seriously violated the spirit of international law and international practice.”
Recent developments have laid bare the extremely fragile nature of what many had hoped could be a manageable economic, political and military rivalry.