China has dismissed a U.S. House of Representatives resolution which condemns China over a suspected Chinese spy balloon shot down above U.S. waters.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Mao Ning informed reporters at a daily briefing that, “China is strongly dissatisfied with this and firmly opposes it.”
“The resolution by the U.S. Congress was purely political manipulation and hyping up.”
Mao Ning, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson
The resolution, which was passed unanimously, condemned China for a “brazen violation” of U.S. sovereignty and efforts to “deceive the international community through false claims about its intelligence collection campaigns.”
Republicans criticized Biden for not acting sooner to down the balloon, but both parties’ lawmakers came together on the vote, 419-0.
Additionally, the resolution calls on the Biden administration “to continue to keep Congress apprised by providing comprehensive briefings” on the incident.
China insists the object was a civilian weather balloon that had been blown off course, but has not said who it belonged to or offered other details.
China Refuses Call From U.S. Defense Secretary
Meanwhile, China’s Defense Ministry has announced that it refused a call from U.S. Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin following the shoot down of the balloon because the U.S. had “not created the proper atmosphere” for dialogue and exchange.
The Pentagon disclosed that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reached out to his Chinese counterpart via a special crisis line, aiming for a quick general-to-general talk that could explain things and ease tensions.
Chinese Defense Ministry Spokesperson, Tan Kefei was however quoted as saying in a statement that the U.S. action had “seriously violated international norms and set a pernicious precedent.”
“Given that this irresponsible and seriously wrong approach by the U.S. did not create the proper atmosphere for dialogue and exchanges between the two militaries, China did not accept the U.S. proposal for a phone call between the two Defense Ministers.”
Tan Kefei, Chinese Defense Ministry Spokesperson
Tan added that China “reserves the right to use necessary means to deal with similar situations.”
The Foreign Ministry has also threatened a response to the downing of the balloon but has given no indication what that might be.
After initially expressing “regret” over the incident, China’s stance hardened in recent days as the FBI gathered debris from the site of the downing in U.S. territorial waters off the coast of South Carolina and sends it to the FBI’s lab in Quantico, Virginia for investigation.
Beijing said the U.S. “overreacted” by shooting the balloon down. The Foreign Ministry has labeled the action “irresponsible” and calls U.S. claims that it was spying “part of the U.S. side’s information warfare against China.”
Balloon Was “Capable Of Conducting Signals Intelligence Collection”
The U.S. has emphatically contradicted China’s version of events, saying that imagery of the balloon collected by American U-2 spy planes as it crossed the country showed that it was “capable of conducting signals intelligence collection” with multiple antennas and other equipment designed to upload sensitive information and solar panels to power them.
The U.S. claims that the balloon was part of a huge, military-linked aerial surveillance program that targeted more than 40 countries under the direction of the People’s Liberation Army.
Similar balloons have sailed over five continents, according to the administration.
A State Department official said the U.S. has confidence that the manufacturer of the balloon has “a direct relationship with China’s military and is an approved vendor” of the army. The official cited an official People Liberation Army procurement portal as evidence.
“We know these balloons are all part of a PRC fleet of balloons developed to conduct surveillance operations. These kinds of activities are often undertaken at the direction of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA),” the State Department official added.
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