Beijing slams Washington’s overreaction after weather balloon strays into American airspace

In this photo provided by Chad Fish, the remnants of a large balloon drift above the Atlantic Ocean, just off the coast of South Carolina, with a fighter jet and its contrail seen below it, on Feb 4, 2023. (CHAD FISH VIA AP)

China has strongly protested the United States’ overreaction to the entry of a Chinese unmanned civilian airship into US airspace, saying that Washington’s handling of the incident was a test of its sincerity in stabilizing and improving bilateral ties as well as its approach to crises.

Vice-Foreign Minister Xie Feng made “a stern demarche” with the US embassy in China on Feb 5 after Washington shot down the airship, which China had confirmed to be a civilian airship for research purposes that had deviated far from its planned course.

“China has already stated that it is completely an unexpected and accidental incident caused by force majeure. But the US turned a deaf ear and insisted on indiscriminate use of force against the civilian airship that was about to leave the US,” Xie said.

The US obviously overreacted, and seriously violated the spirit of international law and international practice, he said.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Feb 6 that China has been communicating with the US and demanded that it appropriately deal with the situation in a calm and professional way.

“We hope the US will work with China to properly handle our differences, avoid miscalculation and misunderstanding, and refrain from harming our mutual trust,” she said.

Mao also confirmed that another balloon, spotted over Latin America, was an unmanned civilian airship from China on a test flight that severely deviated from its course and accidentally entered Latin American and Caribbean airspace.

“As a responsible country, China always strictly abides by international law and has briefed related countries about the situation in order to properly handle it. The airship poses no threat to any country, and all parties said they understand it,” she said.

In a statement issued on Feb 5, Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry said the nation supports dialogue to peacefully resolve conflicts. It also condemned the attack by the United States on the Chinese airship that exhibited a technical malfunction and “did not pose any military or physical threat”.

Karen Kwiatkowski, a former Pentagon analyst, told Russian news agency Sputnik that the incident had given Washington the pretext it needs to feed anti-China hysteria amid tectonic shifts being witnessed in the global geopolitical and economic order.

Speaking on CNN, Philip Mudd, a former Central Intelligence Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation agent, said “we twisted ourselves around a balloon for days in Washington DC”.

“Look, if the Chinese want to collect photos of America, you could get to Google Earth; you could get a Chinese secret satellite if they want to intercept communications. They could do it with satellites,” he said.

The unmanned Chinese airship was first spotted in US airspace early last week. Washington said it had shot down the airship on Feb 4.

The Foreign Ministry statement said that China, after completing verification, “informed the US side multiple times that the airship is for civilian research and that it entered the US due to force majeure, constituting a completely unintended situation”.

China clearly asked the US to handle the situation in a calm, professional and restrained manner, according to the statement.

Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Patrick Ryder said on Feb 2 that the airship “does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground”.

The Foreign Ministry said, “Under such circumstances, the US side’s use of force is an obvious overreaction and a serious violation of international practice.”

After the airship was spotted in US airspace, some US politicians and media organizations had labeled it a “spy balloon”.

Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, spoke to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken by telephone in the evening on Feb 3 on how to deal with the unintended incident.

“We do not accept any groundless speculation or hype,” a readout released by the Foreign Ministry on Feb 4 quoted Wang as saying.

He underscored that China is a country that lives up to its responsibilities, and that it has always strictly abided by international laws.

Su Xiaohui, an associate research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, said the airship incident was hyped amid rising hostility in the US political circles against China. There has been mounting pressure from US lawmakers asking Washington to take a tougher stance against China, she noted.

Senior US State Department officials said at a briefing via teleconference on Feb 3 that Blinken has decided to postpone his planned trip to China due to the entry of the Chinese airship into US airspace.

In response, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Feb 4 that “in fact, neither side has ever announced that there would be a visit”. “It is a matter for the US” to make such an announcement and “we respect that”, the spokesperson said.

Maintaining contact and communication at all levels is an important common understanding reached by the Chinese and US presidents at their meeting in Bali, Indonesia, in November, the spokesperson said.

“One of the tasks of the diplomatic teams on both sides is to properly manage bilateral relations, particularly to manage some unexpected situations in a coolheaded and prudent manner,” the spokesperson added.

Contact the reporters at mojingxi@chinadaily.com.cn