Chinese balloon saga: China confirms it rejected US offer of defence minister talks
- Beijing claims Washington may be stirring up an information war over the incident
- The atmosphere for discussions was not ‘proper’, given US use of force to bring down vessel, Chinese defence ministry says
Chinese defence ministry spokesman Tan Kefei said on Thursday that the US proposed that the defence ministers of both countries have a phone call to talk over the incident, but the US insisted on using force to attack the balloon, “which seriously violates international practice and sets a bad precedent”.
“Given that this irresponsible and seriously erroneous approach by the US did not create a proper atmosphere for dialogue and exchanges between the two militaries, China did not accept the US proposal on the phone call between the two defence ministers,” Tan said.
He added that China reserved the right to use necessary means to deal with similar situations like the balloon incident.
03:08
‘We will act’: Biden raises row over Chinese balloon during State of the Union address
The Pentagon said it asked for a call between US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe right after the balloon was shot down on February 4 but the request was denied.
“We believe in the importance of maintaining open lines of communication between the United States and the [People’s Republic of China] in order to responsibly manage the relationship,” Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said, referring to China by its full name.
“Lines between our militaries are particularly important in moments like this.”
US says downed Chinese balloon part of years-long surveillance plan
On Wednesday, the US claimed the balloon was part of a bigger multi-country surveillance plan Beijing had developed over “several years”.
The Pentagon said balloons of various sizes and abilities had been operating in skies above “at least five continents”, including Latin America, South America, Southeast Asia, East Asia and Europe.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Thursday that the Chinese side had explained multiple times that the balloon was for civilian use and accidentally entered US airspace when it was blown off course.
“It is irresponsible for the US to overreact and abuse force, disregarding China’s repeated explanations and communications,” Mao said.
“The US claims that the balloon is part of the so-called aircraft fleet. I don’t know about it. I think it may be part of the US information war against China.
“It’s clear to the international community who is the world’s largest spy monitoring and surveillance country.”
02:37
Beijing insists ‘balloon does not belong to America’ as US recovers wreckage from sea
Meanwhile, Japan said it had been working with the US to analyse balloon-like objects spotted in its airspace over the past few years, including in June 2020 and September 2021.
Asked about the Japanese statement, Mao said: “The Japanese side should uphold an objective and fair position instead of following the US hype.”
Mao added that she had no further information to give about the equipment on the balloon.
