Spy balloon: U.S – China diplomatic rift deepens

A diplomatic rift between the United States and China has deepened as the U.S. military examined debris of a suspected Chinese spy balloon it downed this month.

The Chinese balloon spent a week flying over the United States and Canada before President Joe Biden ordered it shot on February 4.

Beijing denies that the balloon was a spy vessel maintaining that it was a civilian weather-monitoring aircraft. It accused Washington of sending its own balloons into Chinese airspace and on Tuesday alleged those objects had flown above other countries as well.

U.S. balloons “flew around the world and illegally entered the airspaces of China and other relevant countries at least ten times” since May 2022, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said, without providing details or evidence.

The White House has disputed China’s allegations. Adrienne Watson, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, tweeted on Monday: “Any claim that the US government operates surveillance balloons over the PRC is false.”

U.S sanctions

Washington 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 signs the two countries are still seeking to inject stability into turbulent relations.

Biden, 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.

Also Read: U.S. Four-Star General Predicts War With China in 2025

Sources say U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who postponed a planned trip to Beijing over the balloon, is considering meeting China’s top diplomat Wang Yi in Munich this week.

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.

The 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.

But it has not yet recovered debris from the most recent three objects shot down, with tough weather conditions making recovery operations difficult.

The 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’s spy program.

But they exposed Washington’s heightened sense of alert as the standoff over the balloon delays efforts to reset bilateral relations.

Zainab Sa’id