White House Disputes Beijing Claims of U.S. Balloons Over China

White House Disputes Beijing Claims of U.S. Balloons Over China

THE SIGNAL

BEIJING/WASHINGTON, Feb 13 (Reuters) — China said on Monday that U.S. high altitude balloons had flown over its airspace without permission more than 10 times since the beginning of 2022, drawing a swift denial from Washington.China’s accusation widened a dispute with the United States that began after the U.S. military shot down on Feb. 4 what it says was a Chinese spy balloon, whose appearance prompted top U.S. diplomat Antony Blinken to cancel a trip to Beijing designed to ease tensions.Since then, the U.S. military has shot down three other flying objects over North America, most recently on Sunday, when an octagonal object was downed over Lake Huron, the Pentagon said.“Since last year, the U.S.’ high-altitude balloons have undergone more than 10 illegal flights into Chinese airspace without the approval of the relevant Chinese departments,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a regular briefing in Beijing in response to a que …

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Send this to a friend