Speaker 1 (00:00):
China on Monday accused the US of flying its own high altitude balloons through China’s airspace more than 10 times in the past year, an allegation Washington swiftly denied. The claim comes after the US said, “China sent a surveillance balloon through American airspace earlier this month,” an incident sparking outrage in Washington and leading to intense focus on what is flying in the sky. Monday’s allegation from a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson did not detail whether the alleged American balloons were military or for espionage purposes and did not present any evidence to support the claim.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
[foreign language 00:00:36].
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Just since last year, the US’ high altitude balloons illegally entered Chinese airspace more than 10 times without the approval of the relevant Chinese authorities.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
[foreign language 00:00:48].
Speaker 3 (00:49):
The first thing the US side should do is start with a clean slate, undergo some self-reflection instead of smearing and accusing China
Speaker 2 (00:57):
[foreign language 00:00:59].
Speaker 1 (01:02):
But the US said, “The allegations were completely without merit.” In a statement, a spokesperson for the US National Security Council said, “Any claim that the US government operates surveillance balloons over the people’s Republic of China is false,” and dismissing the allegation as an attempt at damage control by Beijing. The Chinese claim broadens a high flying spying dispute between the globe’s two largest economies that burst into the public eye earlier this month when a large inflatable object drifted over Alaska, Canada, and the continental US before it was shot down by an American fighter jet over the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Washington said, “It was a Chinese surveillance balloon,” calling it, “A violation of US sovereignty.” Beijing said, “The object was for civilian meteorological purposes that went off course,” and called the shoot down, “An over-reaction.” In recent days, the US military said it has shot down three other flying objects over North America, most recently on Sunday when an octagonal object was downed over Lake Huron. Those objects are so far unidentified and were all significantly smaller than the Chinese balloon, which US officials described as more than 100 feet tall.