Monitoring Desk
BEIJING: China called on the United States on Tuesday to conduct a “thorough investigation” into what Beijing claims was a string of incursions into its airspace by US balloons.
Relations between Beijing and Washington have nosedived amid the shooting down of what the United States alleges was a Chinese spy balloon. However, China insisted it was an errant weather observation aircraft with no military designs.
Several other unidentified aerial objects have subsequently been shot down over North America; however, the United States has not attributed them to China.
Meanwhile, Beijing doubled down on unsubstantiated allegations on Tuesday, saying that the United States has sent more than 10 balloons since last year.
Beijing, US Balloons Issue
“The U.S has launched several high-altitude balloons from the country that made regular round-the-world flights, illegally flying over China’s airspace and other countries on at least 10 occasions,” the foreign ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, revealed in a regular briefing.
“The United States should conduct a detailed investigation of the issue and provide an explanation to China,” he said.
The spokesperson did not provide evidence of the alleged incursions, which he said were initiated in May 2022.
He previously told the media that the incursions began in January of the same year.
Washington has denied claims of Beijing that it sent observation devices into Chinese airspace.
The United States government alleges the balloon it shot down on February 4 was part of an ongoing, global “fleet” of Chinese espionage balloons.
It says the balloon was obviously a spy craft and the debris is currently being taken from the Atlantic Ocean for analysis.
Meanwhile, National Security Council spokesman White House John Kirby told reporters Monday that the US is “not flying surveillance balloons over China”.
“I don’t know about any other craft that we’re flying over into the airspace of China,” he said.
