Washington (EFE).- The United States categorically denied on Monday China’s allegations that US balloons flew over its territory at least ten times during the last year.
“It’s not true,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on MSNBC.
Chinese foreign spokesman Wang Wenbin said Monday that “it is common for US balloons to illegally enter other countries’ airspace” and that “in the last year alone, US high-altitude balloons have flown over the Chinese airspace more than ten times without the approval of the relevant Chinese authorities.”
The Chinese representative added that “the US. You must reflect and change your attitude before inciting confrontation, slandering and accusing others.”
rising tension
The US Executive shot down on February 4 a Chinese “spy” balloon over Atlantic waters off the coast of South Carolina.
And in the last three days it has shot down three other flying objects in its territory and Canada, of which it has not yet been able to confirm their origin.
The tension between China and the US since the Chinese globe collapsed has been at its highest, but Kirby assured this Monday that the dialogue between the two powers is still open.
“We still have diplomatic relations with China, we still have an embassy there. It is not as if all communications between us and the Chinese Communist Party have been shut down (…) We have the ability to communicate directly with the Chinese leadership », he concluded.
NATO points to China
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg assured this Monday that the flying objects shot down in recent days in the United States and Canada are “part of a pattern” in which China and Russia “are increasing surveillance and intelligence activities” against Alliance countries.
“What we saw last week about the United States is part of a pattern in which China, but also Russia, are increasing their intelligence and surveillance activities against NATO allies with many different platforms. We see it in cyberspace, we see it with satellites, more and more satellites, and we see it with balloons,” he declared.
For Stoltenberg, this trend highlights “the importance” of surveillance and the increased presence of the Alliance, as well as the fact of intensifying and increasing how allies share information from intelligence services and how they monitor and protect their airspace. .