China says US sent balloons into its airspace
China on Monday accused the United States of flying balloons over its territory. Beijing said US high-altitude balloons had flown over its airspace without permission more than 10 times since the beginning of 2022. Relations between the two countries have soured after Washington shot down an alleged Chinese espionage device in early February, which Beijing said was for civilian purposes. "Since last year, US high-altitude balloons have undergone more than 10 illegal flights into Chinese airspace without the approval of the relevant Chinese departments," Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular briefing. Asked how China had responded to such incursions into its airspace, Wang said its responses had been "responsible and professional". "If you want to know more about US high-altitude balloons illegally entering China's airspace, I suggest you refer to the US side," he added. The White House denied Beijing's claims.  "Any claim that the US government operates surveillance balloons over the PRC is false," National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said on Twitter. "It is China that has a high-altitude surveillance balloon program for intelligence collection, that it has used to violate the sovereignty of the US and over 40 countries across 5 continents." The State Department, meanwhile, said Beijing's accusation was "the latest example of China scrambling to do damage control." China's assertion came after Washington shot down a Chinese balloon off the coast of South Carolina on February 4 after it had drifted across the continental US for days. In response to the incident, the US postponed a visit to Beijing by Secretary of State Antony Blinken. (AFP/Reuters)