US reaction to Chinese ball was ‘hysteria’ – Moscow – RT World News
Washington will ‘demonize’ anyone who doesn’t ‘dance to their tune’, Russian Foreign Ministry says
America’s reaction to the Chinese air balloon was “impulsive” and exaggerated, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday. The United States shot down what they called a “spy balloon” last week, although China insists it was just a weather device.
“We assume that the explanations of the Chinese side on [the incident] are sufficient and clear, Zakharova said during a Tuesday briefing.
She added that Beijing’s response in this “significant situation” was “responsible” unlike the sensationalist response from the US government and media.
“The knee-jerk reaction from Washington and the US media can only be described as hysterical.” she said, adding that the United States continues to use “artificial reasons, or none at all, in order to slander and demonize countries that refuse to dance to their tune.”
An unmanned Chinese airship was spotted flying over Alaska, parts of Canada and then the mainland United States last week. On Thursday, the Pentagon said it was “most certainly launched by China” for the purpose of gathering intelligence, with the media calling it a “spy balloon”. On Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed his planned visit to China indefinitely.
Blinken called the situation “a clear violation of U.S. sovereignty and international law that undermined the purpose of the trip,” during a phone call with the Chinese director of the Central Foreign Affairs Bureau, Wang Yi.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Saturday that the incident was a “involuntary entry” of a civil meteorological research airship caused by force majeure. The diplomat claimed that Beijing had verified and communicated the civilian nature of the balloon to the US side. The spokesperson added that “Some politicians and media in the United States have promoted [the incident] to attack and smear China.
On Saturday, the Pentagon sent an F-22 fighter jet to “take down safely” the balloon after it drifted over the Atlantic Ocean.
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