“We believe in the importance of maintaining open lines of communication between the United States and the [People’s Republic of China] in order to responsibly manage the relationship,” Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said, referring to China by its full name.
“Lines between our militaries are particularly important in moments like this.”
The row over the appearance and shooting down of what the US says was a Chinese surveillance balloon and China says was one of its unmanned civilian airships prompted US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to suspend a planned visit to China this week – a trip that was supposed to “build a floor” for the bilateral relationship.
On Wednesday, the US claimed the balloon was part of a bigger multi-country surveillance plan Beijing had developed over “several years”.
The Pentagon said balloons of various sizes and abilities had been operating in skies above “at least five continents”, including Latin America, South America, Southeast Asia, East Asia and Europe.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Thursday that the Chinese side had explained multiple times that the balloon was for civilian use and accidentally entered US airspace when it was blown off course.
“It is irresponsible for the US to overreact and abuse force, disregarding China’s repeated explanations and communications,” Mao said.
“The US claims that the balloon is part of the so-called aircraft fleet. I don’t know about it. I think it may be part of the US information war against China.
“It’s clear to the international community who is the world’s largest spy monitoring and surveillance country.”
02:37
Beijing insists ‘balloon does not belong to America’ as US recovers wreckage from sea
Meanwhile, Japan said it had been working with the US to analyse balloon-like objects spotted in its airspace over the past few years, including in June 2020 and September 2021.
Asked about the Japanese statement, Mao said: “The Japanese side should uphold an objective and fair position instead of following the US hype.”
Mao added that she had no further information to give about the equipment on the balloon.
