Says \u2018some politicians and media in the US have hyped it up to attack and smear China\u2019
\n Beijing
\nFollowing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken\u2019s announcement of postponing a visit to China after a Chinese \u2018spy balloon\u2019 was tracked flying across the United States, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Sunday that Beijing has no intention to violate and has never violated the territory or airspace of any sovereign country.
\nThe ministry added that regarding the unintended entry of a Chinese unmanned airship into US airspace due to force majeure, the Chinese side has verified it and communicated it to the US side.
\n\u201cIt is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes. Affected by the Westerlies and with limited self-steering capability, the airship deviated far from its planned course. This is entirely an unexpected situation caused by force majeure and the facts are very clear,\u201d the statement furthered.
\nThe foreign ministry also said that China always acts in strict accordance with international law and respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries.
\nThe statement added that \u201csome politicians and media in the US have hyped it up to attack and smear China,\u201d adding that the Chinese side is firmly opposed to that.
\nWhile responding to a question regarding the postponement of Blinken\u2019s visit to China, the ministry stressed the need to maintain contact and communication at all levels. However, it added that neither side had ever announced that there would be a visit.
\nIn a separate development, a member of the Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) Central Committee and Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs Wang Yi had a phone call with Blinken.
\nDuring the call, the two sides communicated how to handle occasional individual cases in a calm and professional manner.
\n\u201cChina will not accept any groundless conjecture or hype. In the face of unexpected situations, what both sides should do is to maintain steadiness, communicate in time, avoid misjudgment and manage differences,\u201d Wang reportedly said during the call.
\nChinese spy balloon
\nThe controversy erupted earlier this week when American officials said they were tracking a large Chinese \u201csurveillance balloon\u201d in US skies.
\nThat led Blinken on Friday to scrap a rare trip to Beijing designed to contain rising US-China tensions.
\nBeijing admitted ownership of the \u201cairship,\u201d but said it was a civilian weather balloon that had been blown off course and that it \u201cregrets\u201d the episode.
\nA day earlier, the US shot down the suspected Chinese spy balloon as it floated off the country\u2019s southeastern coast.
\nBut after Saturday\u2019s operation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed China\u2019s \u201cstrong dissatisfaction and protests against the use of force by the United States to attack the unmanned civilian airship.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Says \u2018some politicians and media in the US have hyped it up to attack and smear China\u2019 Beijing Following US Secretary of State Antony Blinken\u2019s announcement of postponing a visit to China after a Chinese \u2018spy balloon\u2019 was tracked flying across the United States, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Sunday that Beijing has no […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":311983,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-311956","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n