China on Wednesday said, high altitude balloons belonging to the US flew over its remote Xinjiang and Tibet regions which poses a serious challenge to Chinese sovereignty. China warns of taking strict actions.
The ongoing saga of ‘balloon controversy’ goes back to the incident that happened earlier this month when the US military shot down what it alleged was a Chinese “spy balloon” off the southern Carolina coast.
Image Source- Telegraph India
The US raised red flags and president Biden said that “it was a direct challenge to America’s sovereignty”. Dismissing the spying charges, Beijing has said the balloon was a civilian research vessel and that Washington had totally overreacted.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin said “The US accused the Chinese airship of flying into the US airspace and violating American sovereignty, but how will the US explain illegal balloons flying over China’s airspace,”
Wang went on saying , “These balloons have illegally flown over China’s airspace at least 10 times, including over northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and southwest China’s Xizang (Tibet) Autonomous Region, according to the Global Times tabloid.
Though Wang did not say when the balloons were spotted.
According to state-owned Global Times, Wang urged the US to stop smearing China and misleading the international community. China reserves the right to take “further actions” if necessary.
“China is firmly opposed to this and will take countermeasures against relevant US entities that undermine China’s sovereignty and security in accordance with the law,” Wang said.
The Joe Biden-administration has also added six Chinese entities connected to Beijing’s suspected surveillance balloon programme to an export blacklist, further angering China and prompting talk of retaliation.
Image Source- Global Trade Review
The US reacted to this news calling it absolutely false.
“They have now said that there have been a gazillion balloons by the US over China. That is absolutely not true. There are no U.S. government balloons over China,” said US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman
Reports suggest that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi in Munich this week, which after this incident remains in limbo.
The US has not stopped channels of communication with China but will talk to China face to face when time is ripe.
Wendy said that they have not stopped communication with China, however, she did not reveal any details of future high-level meetings. “We hope when conditions make sense that we will be seeing each other face-to-face again” she added.
The two super economies of the world have come heads on in the latest incident , arguments and counter arguments are being closely watched by the world. The tussle remains to be not ending anytime soon. This is a developing story.