(Beijing) China on Monday accused the United States of illegally sending balloons over its territory, allegations immediately categorically denied by Washington, amid tensions between the two countries after the overflight of American soil by a Chinese machine.
“Since last year alone, American balloons have flown over [le territoire de] China on more than ten occasions without any authorization, ”assured a spokesperson for Chinese diplomacy, Wang Wenbin.
“False” assertions, retorted the White House and the State Department, accusing in return China of “attempting to limit the damage” linked to its own “spy balloon program”.
Relations between Washington and Beijing have been significantly strained since the overflight of American territory by a Chinese balloon, a spy device according to the United States, which was shot down in early February by the US Air Force.
The affair of this aerostat, presented by Beijing as a civilian device intended for meteorological surveys, prompted the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken to postpone, in extremis, a planned visit to China.
Since this incident, other flying objects have been seen over Canada and the United States, before being shot down.
The nature of these devices and their membership are not yet known.
Chinese media reported on Sunday that an unidentified flying object had been spotted off China’s east coast and the military was preparing to shoot it down.
Wang Wenbin on Monday declined to comment on the information, arguing that it was up to “competent authorities”.
PHOTO LIU ZHENG, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Chinese diplomatic spokesman Wang Wenbin
But the spokesperson accused American balloons of having violated Chinese space in recent months, without giving details of these incidents and inviting journalists to “turn to the American side”.
Mr. Wang, however, said that these incursions had been handled by Beijing in a “responsible and professional” manner.
US President Joe Biden’s spokeswoman accused Beijing on Wednesday of having a “fleet of balloons for spy operations” on five continents.
Unexplained incursions
A US fighter jet shot down a new flying “object” near the Canadian border on Sunday, the latest in a series that has come to public attention since the beginning of the month.
This time it was an “octagonal” object with no visible nacelle, which was flying about 6,000 meters above Michigan, according to a senior US administration official.
The Pentagon said it did not know for the time being the nature of two other objects previously spotted – one shot down Friday over Alaska, one Saturday over Canada’s Yukon Territory.
Worried, the Americans watch the skies while incursions for the time unexplained follow one another in a context of heightened tensions with China.
Only the membership of the first object, a ball, is for the moment no doubt.
Beijing had admitted that it was a civilian aircraft belonging to it. Used according to him for meteorological data, the device would have deviated from its trajectory.
China has repeatedly castigated the use of force to destroy its balloon and refused a phone call after the incident between Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and his counterpart Wei Fenghe.