WASHINGTON, February 13. /TASS/. The US doesn’t fly balloons or any other aircraft over China for intelligence gathering, US National Security Council coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby told reporters on Monday.
"We are not flying balloons over China. I'm not aware of any other craft that we're flying over Chinese airspace," he said.
"There is no US surveillance aircraft in Chinese airspace," Kirby added, when asked if that also was accurate for the airspace over Taiwan and the South China Sea.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a briefing on Monday that US balloons have illegally entered Chinese airspace more than 10 times since last year. He urged Washington to think about its own actions before making accusations against Beijing.
The US earlier detected a Chinese balloon flying over the continental United States at an altitude well above standard flight corridors for commercial air traffic, which posed no hazard to people on the ground. On February 4, the US Air Force downed the alleged "spy balloon" within US airspace. According to the Pentagon, the balloon was engaged in gathering critical data. The incident prompted US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel his scheduled visit to China.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the balloon was used for meteorological monitoring and had strayed off course. Beijing expressed regret the accident caused the balloon to end up in US airspace and said it was ready to be in contact with the US to resolve the incident.