China on Monday accused American balloons of having violated its airspace more than a dozen times since the beginning of 2022, in a context of tensions between Beijing and Washington following the overflight in the United States of a Chinese machine.
In early February, the US military shot down a Chinese balloon presented by the Pentagon as a spy balloon, intended to collect sensitive information.
The destruction of the device was strongly denounced by China, which ensures that it was a simple civil aerostat having deviated from its trajectory.
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 affiliation is not yet known.
Asked regarding these questions, Beijing assured Monday that American balloons had violated its airspace.
“Since last year alone, American balloons have flown over (the territory of) China more than ten times without any authorization,” spokesman for Chinese diplomacy, Wang Wenbin, told reporters.
He did not elaborate on the incidents, urging reporters to “refer to the US side.”
However, he assured that these incursions had been handled by Beijing in a “responsible and professional” manner.
