US accused by China of flying 10 balloons over its airspace

• China has accused the US of illegally flying high-altitude balloons over its territory.
• But the US has refuted the charge.
• The US has imposed economic sanctions on six Chinese firms.

More than ten times in the past year, China has charged that the US has flown high-altitude balloons over its territory without authorization.

Each time, the US administration has refuted the charge.

The claim was made on Monday, days after the US shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon that had travelled from South Carolina to Alaska, igniting a fresh dispute between the top two economies in the world.

It was a weather craft that had veered off course, Beijing has insisted.

“It is also common for US balloons to illegally enter the airspace of other countries,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a news briefing.

“Since last year, US high-altitude balloons have illegally flown over China’s airspace more than 10 times without the approval of Chinese authorities,” Wang said without giving details about how they had been dealt with or whether they had government or military links.

The US should “first reflect on itself and change course, rather than smear and instigate a confrontation”, Wang said.

China’s claims were promptly refuted by the White House.

“Not true. Not doing it. Just absolutely not true,” national security spokesman John Kirby said in an interview with media. “We are not flying balloons over China.”

After the suspected Chinese airship was shot down last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed a trip to China that many had hoped would stop the dramatic deterioration in relations over Taiwan, trade, human rights, and Chinese claims in the contested South China Sea.

Six Chinese firms that the US claimed were connected to China’s aerospace programmes have since been subject to economic sanctions.

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US Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves has said his department “will not hesitate to continue to use” such restrictions and other regulatory and enforcement tools “to protect US national security and sovereignty”.

After the suspected Chinese airship was shot down last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed a trip to China that many had hoped would stop the dramatic deterioration in relations over Taiwan, trade, human rights, and Chinese claims in the contested South China Sea.

Six Chinese firms that the US claimed were connected to China’s aerospace programmes have since been subject to economic sanctions.

US Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves has said his department “will not hesitate to continue to use” such restrictions and other regulatory and enforcement tools “to protect US national security and sovereignty”.

In a separate unanimous resolution, the US House of Representatives denounced China for its “brazen infringement” of US sovereignty and its efforts to “deceive the international community through misleading assertions about its intelligence collection programs.”

Separately on Monday, the Philippines accused a Chinese coast guard ship of using a military-grade laser to briefly blind members of the personnel aboard a Philippine coast guard ship in the South China Sea.

The incident, according to Manila, violated the Philippines’ sovereign rights in a “blatant” manner.

According to Wang, Chinese coastguard vessels replied “professionally and with restraint” after a Philippine coastguard vessel entered Chinese waters without authorization on February 6. China has been aggressively expanding its maritime military and island bases in the key waterway and claims nearly the whole South China Sea.

“China and the Philippines are maintaining communication through diplomatic channels in this regard,” Wang said.

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