Diplomatic friction has worsened between the United States and China after Beijing claimed, without evidence, that US high-altitude balloons flew over its Xinjiang and Tibet regions, and threatened unspecified measures against US entities for undermining Chinese sovereignty.
Washington and Beijing are locked in a tussle over flying objects after the US military this month shot down what it called a Chinese spy balloon over the coast of South Carolina. Beijing said it was a civilian research vehicle mistakenly blown off course, and that Washington overreacted.
This week, China has claimed US balloons have flown over its airspace without permission more than 10 times on round-the-world flights since May 2022. The White House has disputed this. Beijing has not produced any evidence or specifics of its claims, but on Wednesday claimed US balloons were spotted over the highly securitised regions of Tibet and Xinjiang where Beijing is accused of extensive human rights abuses against the non-Han population.
“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,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a regular daily briefing on Wednesday.
The US deputy secretary of state, Wendy Sherman, reiterated that China’s claims about US balloons were 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 US government balloons over China,” she told an event at the Brookings Institution in Washington.
Wang also accused Japan’s government of making “unfounded allegations” after the saga prompted the defence ministry in Tokyo to reanalyse sightings of unidentified aerial objects since November 2019.
The ministry announced late on Tuesday that new analysis “strongly” suggested they were Chinese spy balloons and it had “strongly demanded China’s government confirm the facts”.
Wang accused Japan of “smearing” China “without any solid evidence … China has repeatedly shared information on the unintended entry of a Chinese civilian unmanned airship into US airspace. Japan should adopt an objective and just position, view this unexpected incident caused by force majeure in the right way, and stop following the US’s suit in dramatising it.”
Washington has added six Chinese entities to an export blacklist over connections to Beijing’s suspected surveillance balloon programme. Wang called the sanctions illegal. “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, without specifying the measures.
The balloon dispute has delayed efforts by both sides to try to patch up frayed relations, although Joe Biden, the US president, has said he does not believe ties between the two countries have been weakened.
The US 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.
His deputy, Wendy Sherman, said on Wednesday that communication with China had not stopped but gave no details about any future high-level meetings.
“We hope when conditions make sense that we will be seeing each other face-to-face again. No announcements today,” she said.