The Chinese Foreign Ministry said yesterday that the US overreacted by using force and that the narrative is likely a component of the information and public opinion warfare Washington has waged against China in response to the White House’s statement about suspected “spy balloons” being a part of a PRC fleet of balloons developed to conduct surveillance operations.
Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, claimed yesterday during a normal press briefing that the entry of an unmanned Chinese civilian blimp into US territory was solely due to “force majeure.”
The Chinese side has frequently revealed its information regarding the airship. The unmanned Chinese airship’s unexpected and inadvertent incursion into US airspace is solely the result of force majeure. It has been made very apparent in communications between the Chinese and US sides, but the US overreacted by using force. China strongly disagrees with and regrets this. According to Mao Ning, I am not aware of any “fleet of balloons,” according to the official readout of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The US military earlier this week shot down the alleged Chinese “spy balloon” over the Atlantic Ocean. Mao Ning also poked fun at Japan, saying that it need to take an impartial stance on the airship incident as opposed to dramatising it like the US.
The spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Mao Ning, continued by stating that the US is the global leader in reconnaissance and surveillance and that it also runs long-running global intelligence programmes. She accused the US of harming regional peace and stability and endangering China’s national security.
Due to Beijing’s territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific, US-China relations have never been solid.
China made its comments after White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre reacted to a media question on Wednesday over whether China is deploying balloons to spy on Japan, Taiwan, and some other Asian friends. The balloons, according to her, are a part of a fleet of balloons created by the PRC to carry out surveillance operations.