The head of Chinese diplomacy, Wang Yi, described as “hysterical” and “absurd” the reaction of the United States to shoot down a Chinese balloon that it considered a spy.
“There are many balloons in the sky from different countries. Do you want to shoot down each one of them?” Wang told the Munich Security Conference.
The balloon traveled across much of the United States before being shot down over the Atlantic Ocean by a US F-22 Raptor fighter.
The United States shot down the balloon with an F-22 Raptor fighterwhich he attributed to surveillance purposes, off the coast of South Carolina, on February 4.
China expressed its “strong discontent” as it ensures that the balloon was civilian, for meteorological research and that it arrived involuntarily into US airspace.
“We urge the United States not to do such absurd things simply to divert attention from their own internal problems,” Wang said, according to the AFP news agency.
“We have asked the United States to handle this situation in a calm and professional manner,” he said.
“Unfortunately, the United States does not take these facts into account and uses high-tech fighter planes to shoot down a balloon with their missiles, which I find absurd and hysterical,” he added.
The balloon traveled across much of the United States before being shot down over the Atlantic Ocean by a US F-22 Raptor fighter earlier this month.
China insisted that it was a lost weather observation device, while Washington described it as a spy vehicle.
China insisted it was a lost weather-observing device, while Washington described it as a high-altitude spy vehicle.
Relations between China and the United States became increasingly tense over the balloon incident.
US planes also shot down three unidentified objects in the days that followed, but Washington later said preliminary evidence suggested they were not part of a broader Chinese spy program.
