Beijing denounces US ‘fabrication’ of ‘spy balloon’ story

BEIJING–China on Friday accused the United States of violating its obligations under the Convention on International Civil Aviation, also known as the Chicago Convention, and several fundamental principles of international law by “defamatoryly” describing China’s civilian UAV as a “spy.” “ labeled Ballon” and implicated in the abuse of violence.

Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, made the allegation at a news conference in response to a query about the ongoing US “analysis and investigation” into the UAV shot down by the US military after its unexpected flight into the US -Airspace.

Wang said China has repeatedly told the US side explicitly that the entry of the Chinese civilian UAV is a completely unintentional, unexpected and isolated event caused by Force majeure.

From debris recovery to debris analysis, the US side has operated unilaterally and in secret, Wang said.

He added that China has requested the US side to report on progress through the consular protection channel, to which the United States has not responded.

China must strongly question the independence, openness and transparency of the so-called investigation, the spokesman said. “What credibility does such an investigation have?”

“The US position on the incident has long been predetermined. It has been completely taken over by domestic politics and serves the strategy of containing and suppressing China,” Wang noted.

He questioned whether, just as US President Biden had already given the order for the civilian airship to be shot down by force on February 1, the so-called investigative report had already been concocted.

“The so-called conclusions in the report are nothing more than repeating the false claims and baseless allegations that the US side often spreads these days,” Wang said. “What value can such a report have, other than slandering and attacking China?”