China says balloon shot down on Feb 4 was a civilian weather-monitoring aircraft
\n WASHINGTON
\nA diplomatic rift between China and the United States deepened on Tuesday with Beijing accusing Washington of flying high-altitude balloons into its airspace and that of other countries, as the U.S. military examined debris of a suspected Chinese spy balloon it downed this month.
\nThe Chinese balloon, which Beijing denies was a spy vessel, spent a week flying over the United States and Canada before President Joe Biden ordered it shot on Feb. 4. The U.S. military has since carried out three more shootdowns as it combs the skies for objects that were not being captured by radar.
\nThe White House said on Tuesday it was still searching for debris from the most recent, unmanned objects, and had not seen any indication they were part of China\u2019s spy program. But they exposed Washington\u2019s heightened sense of alert as the standoff over the balloon delays efforts to reset bilateral relations.
\nChina says the balloon shot down on Feb. 4 was a civilian weather-monitoring aircraft. Beijing has accused Washington of sending its own balloons into Chinese airspace, and on Tuesday alleged those objects had flown above other countries as well.
\nU.S. balloons \u201cflew around the world and illegally entered the airspaces of China and other relevant countries at least ten times\u201d since May 2022, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said, without providing details or evidence.
\nChina asserts numerous disputed territorial claims, including Taiwan and parts of the East and South China Seas, where the U.S. military says it routinely operates according to international law.
\nThe White House has disputed China\u2019s allegations. Adrienne Watson, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, tweeted on Monday: \u201cAny claim that the US government operates surveillance balloons over the PRC is false.\u201d
\nWashington has imposed sanctions on six Chinese entities it says are tied to the balloon, an action which drew criticism from Beijing on Tuesday. But there are some signs the two countries are still seeking to inject stability into turbulent relations.
\nBiden, who has repeatedly vowed to protect U.S. airspace and criticized China over the balloon, has also said that he does not believe relations between the two countries were weakened by the incident.
\nU.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who postponed a planned trip to Beijing over the balloon, is considering meeting China\u2019s top diplomat Wang Yi in Munich this week, sources said.
\n\u201cCommercial or benign purpose\u201d
\nThe U.S. military said on Monday it had recovered critical electronics from the suspected Chinese spy balloon as well as large sections of the vessel itself.
\nBut it has not yet recovered debris from the most recent three objects shot down, with tough weather conditions making recovery operations difficult.
\nWhite House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Tuesday that no group or individual has claimed the three objects, and that the U.S. intelligence community believes they could be \u201ctied to some commercial or benign purpose.\u201d
\nThe objects include an object downed over sea ice near Deadhorse, Alaska, one brought down over Canada\u2019s Yukon and a third shot down over Lake Huron.
\nDemonstrating the difficulty of taking down the three objects, the top U.S. general, Mark Milley, said the first of two missiles fired from an F-16 fighter jet at the object over Lake Huron on Sunday missed the object, but landed harmlessly in the water.
\n\u201cWe certainly tracked it all the way down,\u201d Milley told a news conference in Brussels on Tuesday.
\nTop U.S. defense and military officials held a classified briefing for U.S. senators at the Capitol on Tuesday. Republican senators urged Biden, a Democrat, to publicly share more information about the objects.
\n\u201cNinety-five percent of what was discussed in that room today can be made public without compromising the security of this country,\u201d Republican Senator Marco Rubio said after the briefing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
China says balloon shot down on Feb 4 was a civilian weather-monitoring aircraft WASHINGTON A diplomatic rift between China and the United States deepened on Tuesday with Beijing accusing Washington of flying high-altitude balloons into its airspace and that of other countries, as the U.S. military examined debris of a suspected Chinese spy balloon it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":314058,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-314036","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n