Washington/Beijing: Have Chinese ‘spy’ balloons also collected information on military assets in India as well? There have been speculations on the possibilities particularly after the United States recently shot down one such balloon that China owned up but claimed to be a ‘civilian airship’. The US has shot down four balloons and has gone on record claiming previous violations of the sovereignty of some 40 countries across five continents by China.
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To a specific question (IST) on whether the US had any conversations or information-sharing with India regarding this, a US State Department spokesperson refused to name the countries affected by Chinese surveillance balloons. “We have engaged in conversation on this topic with dozens of countries around the world – with the countries that have been directly affected by this, countries that may have an interest in something like this, countries that could one day be subjected to something like this. We’re just not going to name those countries, for reasons that may be self-evident,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said yesterday.
He though mentioned that the US was having such conversations “privately” and that Washington was sharing those details with its allies and partners around the world.
Washington has also used the incident as an excuse to impose illegal sanctions on Chinese companies and institutions. China today claimed that US was overreacting by abusing the use of force and escalating the situation. “China is strongly opposed to this and will take countermeasures in accordance with law against relevant US entities that have undermined China’s sovereignty and security to firmly safeguard China’s sovereignty and legitimate rights and interests,” Chinese foreign minister spokesperson Wang Wenbin said in Beijing. He said Beijing firmly opposed the US action and warned the US against taking further actions that could undermine China’s interests or escalate tensions.
China has also gone to the extent of claiming that since May last year, the US has released a large number of high-altitude balloons from its territory, which have continuously circled the globe and illegally flown over China’s airspace, including Xinjiang and Tibet, more than ten times at least without the approval of relevant Chinese authorities.
“The US cited the unintended entry of a Chinese unmanned airship into its airspace as a violation of its sovereignty, then how does it explain the illegal overflight of its balloons through China’s airspace?” Wenbin asked. He claimed China handled the illegal flight of US balloons through its airspace in a “calm and professional manner. By contrast, the US overreacted to the unintended entry of a Chinese civilian airship into its airspace caused by force majeure”.
Beijing today demanded an explanation from Washington and the international community on misleading the US public and international community, and warned that “China reserves the right to further respond if necessary”.
Responding to the Chinese threat of taking actions against US entities following the latest US sanctions against China following the balloon incident, Price asserted that the US would take “responsible, prudent, and appropriate” actions to protect its people and its interests.
“That is precisely what this government did in response to the PRC violating our sovereignty, violating international law by sending a high-altitude surveillance balloon deep into the heartland of the United States. This is not the type of programme that the United States is conducting over China. The PRC’s attempts to accuse us of doing the same, it is just more misinformation and disinformation. It is just not true,” Price said.
– global bihari bureau
