The People’s Republic of China accused the US House of Representatives of “scoring political points” by passing a resolution on Thursday condemning China’s use of a surveillance plane shot down last week.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning addressed the resolution on Friday during a press conference.
US AND ALLIES HOLD JOINT AIR FORCE EXERCISE TARGETING CHINA AFTER DOWNLOAD OF SPY
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning gestures during a news conference at the Foreign Ministry in Beijing, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Liu Zheng, File)
“The Chinese side has repeatedly shared information and stated its position on the unintentional entry of Chinese civil unmanned aircraft into US airspace due to force majeure,” Mao said.
The House resolution condemns China for the raid and says US policy should be to “act quickly and decisively to prevent foreign aerial surveillance.” It also calls on the Biden administration to take several steps to explain to Congress how it handled the incident, a set of instructions that may explain why some Democrats voted against it.
“The US Congress resolution is just about scoring political points and dramatizing everything,” Mao said. “China deplores and strongly opposes it.”
CHINA WANTS ITS SPY PLANE DOWN, SAYING IT ‘DOESN’T BELONG TO THE UNITED STATES’
A large balloon drifts over the Atlantic Ocean off the South Carolina coast, with a fighter jet and its wake below, on Saturday, February 4. (Chad Fish via AP)
Earlier this week, senior military and national security officials confirmed that the downed balloon was linked to a major surveillance program led by the Chinese army. The program is based on outdated balloon technology along with modern signal surveillance techniques. The balloons travel through the upper atmosphere, hovering between 60,000 and 80,000 feet above Earth, above where commercial airliners travel.
The balloon was shot down off the coast of South Carolina by a US military fighter plane on Saturday afternoon. A senior US military official said an F-22 was used to shoot down the balloon at 58,000 feet with a single A9X missile.
When asked about the nature of the equipment on the plane, Mao replied, “I don’t have the information.”
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FBI special agents assigned to the evidence response team process material recovered from the high-altitude balloon that was recovered off the coast of South Carolina. The material was processed and transported to the FBI Laboratory in Quantico, Virginia. (FBI)
Most of the evidence regarding the Chinese surveillance planes it is still underwater, FBI officials told Fox News.
Divers are currently salvaging the area of the wreck, described as a “large-scale scene,” looking for debris, according to senior FBI officials. Diving operations are scheduled to continue in the coming days and weeks, whenever necessary.
Fox News’ Mark Meredith contributed to this report.
