China says US balloons flew over Xinjiang, Tibet; vows countermeasures

Beijing: China on Wednesday said high altitude balloons belonging to the US flew over its remote Xinjiang and Tibet regions and vowed to take countermeasures against US entities, which undermine Chinese sovereignty, as the ongoing diplomatic dispute over the “balloon incident” continued to prompt claims and counter-claims from both sides.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, had earlier asserted that US balloons had trespassed into Chinese territory at least 10 times since May 2022 without sharing details.

On Wednesday, Wang said US balloons were spotted over the autonomous regions of Xinjiang and Tibet, both regions where Beijing has been accused of large scale human rights violations by Washington-led western countries.

China has denied the accusations.

Wang did not say when the balloons were spotted.

“Without the approval of the relevant authorities in China, these balloons have illegally flown over China’s airspace at least 10 times, including over northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and southwest China’s Xizang (Tibet) Autonomous Region,” Wang said, according to the Global Times tabloid.

The current dispute between the world’s two largest economies follows the US military’s shooting down of what it alleged was a Chinese “spy balloon” off the southern Carolina coast earlier this month.

Dismissing the spying charges, Beijing has said the balloon was a civilian research vessel and that Washington had totally overreacted.

“China has repeatedly explained to the US that Chinese civilian airships flew into the US airspace due to force majeure, but the latter neglected to mention that a US balloon illegally flew over the Chinese airspace without China’s approval, and also accused China of spreading false information,” Wang said.

“The US accused the Chinese airship of flying into the US airspace and violating American sovereignty, but how will the US explain illegal balloons flying over China’s airspace,” Wang asked.

The Joe Biden-administration has also added six Chinese entities connected to Beijing’s suspected surveillance balloon programme to an export blacklist, further angering China and prompting talk of retaliation.

Wang, according to the Global Times, urged the US to stop smearing China and misleading the American public and international community while China reserves the right to take “further actions” if necessary.

“The US has abused force, overreacted, escalated the situation, and used this as a pretext to illegally sanction Chinese companies and institutions,” Wang said, according to a Reuters report.

“China is firmly opposed to this and will take countermeasures against relevant US entities that undermine China’s sovereignty and security in accordance with the law,” Wang said.