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Washington and Beijing are locked in a tussle over flying
objects after the U.S. military this month shot down what it
called a Chinese spy balloon over the coast of South Carolina.
Beijing says its balloon was a civilian research vessel
mistakenly blown off course, and that Washington overreacted.
This week, China countered that U.S. balloons had flown over its
airspace without permission more than 10 times on
round-the-world flights since May 2022.
"Without the approval of relevant Chinese authorities, it has
illegally flown at least 10 times over China's territorial
airspace, including over Xinjiang, Tibet and other provinces,"
Wang told a regular daily briefing on Wednesday.
The White House has disputed China's allegations.
Washington has added six Chinese entities connected to Beijing's
suspected surveillance balloon program to an export blacklist.
"The U.S. has abused force, overreacted, escalated the
situation, and used this as a pretext to illegally sanction
Chinese companies and institutions," Wang said.
"China is firmly opposed to this and will take countermeasures
against relevant U.S. entities that undermine China's
sovereignty and security in accordance with the law," Wang said,
without specifying the measures.
The balloon dispute has delayed efforts by both sides to mend
relations, although U.S. President Joe Biden has also said that
he does not believe ties between the two countries were weakened
by the incident.
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, sources have said.
(Reporting by Liz Lee; Writing by Tony Munroe; Editing by Tom
Hogue, Toby Chopra and Kim Coghill)
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