{"id":146107,"date":"2023-02-13T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-13T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mediaintel.asia\/?p=913661"},"modified":"2023-02-13T08:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-02-13T00:00:00","slug":"china-accuses-u-s-of-flying-more-than-10-high-altitude-balloons-in-its-airspace-during-past-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chinalegalblog.com\/en\/2023\/02\/13\/china-accuses-u-s-of-flying-more-than-10-high-altitude-balloons-in-its-airspace-during-past-year\/","title":{"rendered":"China accuses U.S. of flying more than 10 high-altitude balloons in its airspace during past year"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"MediaIntel.Asia\"<\/a><\/div>\n

In this image made from video, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin speaks during a media briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs office, in Beijing, on Feb. 13.Liu Zheng\/The Associated Press
\nChina on Monday said more than 10 U.S. high-altitude balloons have flown in its airspace during the past year without its permission, following Washington\u2019s accusation that Beijing operates a fleet of surveillance balloons around the world.
\nThe Chinese allegation comes after the U.S. shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon that had crossed from Alaska to South Carolina, sparking a new crisis in bilateral relations that have spiraled to their lowest level in decades.
\nForeign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin gave no details about the alleged U.S. balloons, how they had been dealt with or whether they had government or military links.
\n\u201cIt is also common for U.S. balloons to illegally enter the airspace of other countries,\u201d Wang said at a daily briefing. \u201cSince last year, U.S. high-altitude balloons have illegally flown over China\u2019s airspace more than 10 times without the approval of Chinese authorities.\u201d
\nWang said the U.S. should \u201cfirst reflect on itself and change course, rather than smear and instigate a confrontation.\u201d
\nChina says the balloon shot down by the U.S. was an unmanned airship made for meteorological research that had been blown off course. It has accused the U.S. of overreacting by shooting it down and threatened to take unspecified action in response.
\nFollowing the incident, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a visit to Beijing that many had hoped would put the brakes on the sharp decline in relations over Taiwan, trade, human rights and threatening Chinese actions in the disputed South China Sea.
\nAlso Monday, the Philippines accused a Chinese coast guard ship of targeting a Philippine coast guard vessel with a military-grade laser and temporarily blinding some of its crew in the South China Sea, calling it a \u201cblatant\u201d violation of Manila\u2019s sovereign rights.
\nWang said a Philippine coast guard vessel had trespassed into Chinese waters without permission on Feb. 6 and that Chinese coast guard vessels responded \u201cprofessionally and with restraint.\u201d China claims virtually all of the strategic waterway and has been steadily building up its maritime forces and island outposts.
\n\u201cChina and the Philippines are maintaining communication through diplomatic channels in this regard,\u201d Wang said. China\u2019s Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a question about the incident.
\nAdding to tensions, a U.S. fighter jet shot down an \u201cunidentified object\u201d over Lake Huron on Sunday on orders from President Joe Biden. It was the fourth such downing in eight days in an extraordinary chain of events over U.S. airspace that Pentagon officials believe has no peacetime precedent.
\nThe Chinese balloon shot down by the U.S. was equipped to detect and collect intelligence signals as part of a huge, military-linked aerial surveillance program that targeted more than 40 countries, the Biden administration declared Thursday, citing imagery from American U-2 spy planes.
\nPart of the reason for the repeated shootdowns is a \u201cheightened alert\u201d following the alleged Chinese spy balloon, Gen. Glen VanHerck, head of NORAD and the U.S. Northern Command, said in a briefing with reporters.
\nThe United States has since placed economic restrictions on six Chinese entities it said are linked to Beijing\u2019s aerospace programs as part of its response to the incident. The U.S. House of Representatives also voted unanimously to condemn China for a \u201cbrazen violation\u201d of U.S. sovereignty and efforts to \u201cdeceive the international community through false claims about its intelligence collection campaigns.\u201d
\nWang, the Chinese spokesperson, repeated China\u2019s dismissal of such claims, saying, \u201cthe frequent firing of advanced missiles by the U.S. to shoot down the objects is an overreaction of overexertion.\u201d<\/p>\n

This data comes from MediaIntel.Asia's Media Intelligence and Media Monitoring Platform<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this image made from video, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin speaks during a media briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs office, in Beijing, on Feb. 13.Liu Zheng\/The Associated Press
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