A week after the US shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon, Beijing, on Monday, claimed that American balloons flew over its airspace "over ten times" since January 2022. "It's not uncommon as well for the US to illegally enter the airspace of other countries," China's foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said during a briefing.
Also Read: US shoots down Chinese surveillance balloon over Atlantic; China warns of consequences
"Since last year alone, US balloons have illegally flown above China more than 10 times without any approval from Chinese authorities," he added, according to the international news agency AFP.
Ties between the US and China have taken a hit over a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon over sensitive military facilities in America. It was shot down by US fighter jets on February 4 by air force fighter jets despite a request by China to "handle the matter in a cool-headed way".
Also Read: After Chinese 'spy balloon', US fighter jet shoots down 'unidentified object' over Canada
After the balloon was detected, China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said China was a responsible country and it acts in accordance with international law. "We have no intention to violate other countries’ sovereignty and airspace," she added.
Ning confirmed the unmanned airship was from China but it was of civilian nature and used for flight tests. She rejected the spy balloon claim and said it deviated far from its planned course and entered into the airspace of Latin America as it was affected by the weather and had limited self-steering capability.
However, the US State Department on Thursday released details about China's high-altitude "balloon surveillance program". It said China's balloon spy operations are carried out by the People’s Liberation Army or PLA, using technology manufactured by a firm that has a direct relationship with China’s military, Washington Post reported on February 9.
"The company also advertises balloon products on its website and hosts videos from past flights, which appear to have overflown at least U.S. airspace and airspace of other countries,” the US State Department said, adding that these advertised balloon videos seemingly have similar flight patterns as the balloons we have been discussing this week.
Today, when asked how China responded to the alleged incursions, Wang said Beijing's handling of these incidents was "responsible and professional". "If you want to know more about US high-altitude balloons illegally entering China's airspace, I suggest you refer to the US side," he was quoted as saying by AFP.
On February 4, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that the US had shot down the balloon, which he said was being used by the PRC in an attempt to surveil strategic sites in the continental United States. The US officials first detected the balloon and its payload on January 28 when it entered American airspace near the Aleutian Islands. The balloon traversed Alaska, and Canada and re-entered US airspace over Idaho.