American balloons have illegally flown over ten times in Chinese airspace since the beginning of this year, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a briefing.
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The diplomat pointed out that the States did not receive permission for these flights from Beijing.
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“Illegal entry of US balloons into the airspace of other countries is a common occurrence,” Wang said.
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In response to the question of what period he was talking about, he noted that the countdown could be from January 1, 2022.
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On February 4, the US military shot down a Chinese balloon over the Atlantic Ocean, which had previously crossed Canada and the US land.
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In addition, the military shot down two more “high-rise objects” over the state of Alaska and Canada last week.
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US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin suggested that China used the device to monitor strategic targets. Because of this incident, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken postponed a visit to China.
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According to the Pentagon, at least three balloons flew into America during the presidency of Donald Trump, who denies this. The Americans claim that the Chinese used high-altitude balloons to collect intelligence information around the world – in more than 40 countries on five continents.
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Beijing dismissed unfounded speculation and hype, explaining that the situation was caused by force majeure and the device was a weather balloon that deviated from the route. In addition, China is demanding the return of the wreckage of the device.