The White House Denies United States Balong Allegations Of Flying Over China Region

The US Navy's takeover of Chinese spy balloons. (Wikimedia Commons/US Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Tyler Thompson)

JAKARTA - The White House denies China's accusations that the United States balloons that Beijing officials say have violated their airspace.

China has accused high-altitude United States of flying over its airspace without a permit more than 10 times since early 2022 on Monday.

The White House immediately denied China's accusations, which spokeswoman for the National Security Council Adrienne Watson dismissed as an attempt to control the damage by Beijing.

"Every claim that the US government operates surveillance balloons in the PRC (Chinese People's Republic) is false," he said in a statement.

"China is the one with a high-altitude monitoring balloon program for intelligence gathering, connected to the People's Liberation Army, which has been used to violate US sovereignty and more than 40 countries on five continents," Watson said.

Watson said China had failed to provide a "credible explanation" of the disturbance.

Separately, national security spokesman John Kirby told MSNBC in an interview: "It is absolutely untrue. We are not flying balloons over China."

Meanwhile, the United States Department of Defense did not respond to requests for comment.

The latest allegations widened diplomatic disputes after the United States military shot down what it said was a Chinese spy balloon.

"Since last year, US high-altitude balloons have made more than 10 illegal flights to Chinese airspace without the approval of the relevant Chinese department," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular briefing in Beijing.

However, Wang did not specifically describe whether the balloon had military or espionage purposes, providing no further details.

Asked how China responded to such an attack on its airspace, Wang said his response was "mandable and professional".

China's affirmation comes after the United States shot down what it said was a Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina on February 4, after floating across the United States for days.

China says the balloon is a civilian research plane, accusing the United States of overreacting.

"The first thing the US side has to do is look at himself, change his way, not tarnish and incite confrontation," Wang criticized.