China claims that US high-altitude balloons flew over its airspace more often than 10 times in the last year. Washington denies this claim.
Beijing claimed the claim after the US accused China that it operated surveillance balloons all over the globe.
Officials from the United States denied the claim, stating that there was “no US surveillance” or any aircraft in Chinese airspace.
This development follows a day in which US aircraft shot down a fourth flying object, which the Pentagon claimed flew close to sensitive military sites and was a threat to civilian aircraft.
It was seen over Lake Huron, Michigan at 2.42pm local on Sunday in President Joe Biden’sorders.
The row began when a suspected Chinese spy ball was shot down earlier in the month by the US offshore of South Carolina.
To aid in the recovery effort, ships were placed on the water.
“Unlawful entry of US balloons into airspace”
Wang Wenbin, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, has not provided any details today about the alleged US balloons.
He didn’t explain how the case was handled or whether there were military or government connections.
He stated at a daily briefing that it was common for US balloons illegally to enter other countries’ airspace.
“Since last January, US high-altitude balloons illegally flew over China’s Airspace more than 10 Times without Chinese approval.”
According to the Chinese spokesperson, the US should first “reflect on itself” and change its course rather than inciting confrontation.
John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator, strategic communications, denied China’s claims at Monday’s White House news conference.
He said that the US did not fly balloons over China, and that he wasn’t aware of any US craft entering Chinese airspace.
China claimed Monday that the US balloon that was shot down over South Carolina by China was an unmanned aircraft meant for meteorological research and had been diverted.
It accused the US overreacting by shooting down its request and threatened to take unspecified actions in response.
After the latest ‘objects’ , ‘Heightened Alert’
After the sightings of the balloon earlier in the month, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken cancelled his visit to Beijing.
Many had hoped that the visit would stop the rapid decline in US-China relations over Taiwan and trade as well as China’s threats to the South China Sea.
According to the Biden administration, the balloon was designed to collect and detect intelligence signals in a massive, military-linked aerial surveillance program that targeted more than 40 nations.
Continue reading:
UFOs downed so far – timeline
Recent downed object is’much smaller than the suspected spy balloon’
General Glen VanHerck of the US Air Force admitted that he didn’t know what the three last objects were, or how they remained aloft until being shot down.
He said that they were different from the balloon that started the row.
He said, “We’re calling these objects, not balloons for a reason” and refused to rule out the possibility that they might be extra-terrestrial.
General VanHerck stated that part of the reason for repeated shootdowns was a “heightened alert” in response to the alleged Chinese spy ball.
As part of its response, the United States placed economic restrictions on six Chinese entities.
The US House of Representatives voted unanimously in condemning China for its “brazen violation of US sovereignty” and attempts to “deceive international community through false claims regarding its intelligence collection campaigns”.
Subscribe to Sky News Daily, where you can get your podcasts
China defends laser use in new incident
Wang Wenbin reiterated China’s rejection of US claims and stated: “The frequent firing by the US of advanced missiles to shoot down objects is an overreaction of excessive exertion.”
On Monday, the Philippines alleged that a Chinese Coastguard Ship targeted a Filipino vessel using a military-grade laser. It temporarily blinded some of its crew members in the South China Sea. The Philippines called it a “blatant violation” of Manila’s sovereign right.
China claimed that the Philippine coastguard ship had entered Chinese waters unpermitted on February 6th. China responded, “professionally” and “with restraint”.
China holds almost all the strategic waterways and has been steadily increasing its maritime forces as well as island outposts.
reply
retweet
favourite
