On February 4, a US military plane shot down what Washington calls a Chinese spy balloon after it had crossed North America. Beijing claims it was an errant weather surveillance craft.
China’s statement came after a meeting between the head of Chinese diplomacy, Wang Yi, and US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
China considers the US reaction “hysterical” and “absurd”
The head of Chinese diplomacy, Wang Yi, described today as “hysterical” and “absurd” the reaction of the United States to shoot down a Chinese balloon that it considered a spy.
“There are many balloons in the sky from different countries. Do you want to shoot down each one of them?” Wang told the Munich Security Conference.
The United States shot down the balloon, which it blamed for surveillance purposes, off the coast of South Carolina on February 4 with an F-22 Raptor fighter.
China expressed its “strong discontent” as it ensures that the balloon was civilian, for meteorological research and that it arrived involuntarily into US airspace.
“We urge the United States not to do such absurd things simply to divert attention from its own internal problems”Wang said, according to the AFP news agency. “We have asked the United States to handle this situation in a calm and professional manner,” he said.
“Unfortunately, the United States does not take these facts into account and uses high-tech fighter planes to shoot down a balloon with their missiles, which I find absurd and hysterical,” he added. The balloon traveled across much of the United States before being shot down over the Atlantic Ocean by a US F-22 Raptor fighter earlier this month.
China insisted it was a lost weather-observing device, while Washington described it as a high-altitude spy vehicle. Relations between China and the United States became increasingly tense over the balloon incident.
US planes also shot down three unidentified objects in the days that followed.but Washington later said preliminary evidence suggested they were not part of a broader Chinese spy program.
Source: Ambito
