HONG KONG — China on Friday accused U.S. lawmakers of “political manipulation and hype” over the downing of its suspected spy balloon, as Beijing said it declined a call from the U.S. over the saga because Washington had not “created the proper atmosphere for dialogue.”
The Chinese Foreign Ministry repeated Beijing’s insistence that the high-altitude balloon was a civilian airship, and criticized a unanimous resolution by House lawmakers on Thursday condemning China’s use of the balloon.
“The resolution by the U.S. Congress was purely political manipulation and hype,” spokesperson Mao Ning said at a regular briefing. “China is strongly dissatisfied with this and firmly opposes it.”
Mao’s comments came after a statement late Thursday from the Chinese Defense Ministry, which said the U.S. action against the balloon “seriously violates international practice and sets a bad precedent.”
“Given that this irresponsible and seriously wrong approach by the U.S. did not create a proper atmosphere for dialogue and exchanges between the two militaries,” spokesperson Tan Kefei said, “China did not accept the U.S. proposal for a phone call” on Saturday between Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart, Wei Fenghe.
Tan added that China “reserves the right to use necessary means to deal with similar situations.”
The Biden administration says China was using the 200-foot-tall balloon for surveillance, with a senior State Department official saying Thursday that it carried “multiple antennas” capable of collecting signals intelligence.
China maintains that the balloon had strayed off course as it was conducting meteorological research, and that the U.S. overreacted in shooting it down on Saturday off the coast of South Carolina.
The FBI said Thursday that much of the remnants of the balloon remained underwater and that analysis was still in its early stages. A senior U.S. official briefed on the matter said the total amount…
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