Beijing condemned on Thursday US President Joe Biden’s comments that Xi Jinping was facing “big problems”, saying the remarks were “irresponsible”.
The latest rhetorical battle between the United States and China comes after China shot down a balloon last week that Washington said was part of a spy fleet spanning five continents.
After a brief warm-up following the November G20 meeting between Biden and Xi, US-China relations have once again nosedived, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week rejecting a visit to Beijing due to ballooning.
The US said the high-end device – which directly bypassed at least one sensitive US military site – was intended for espionage.
China angrily denied the claim, arguing that it was a weather observation vessel that could not be deployed.
On Thursday, Beijing confirmed it had rejected an offer of a phone call between the two countries’ defense chiefs after Washington shot down the inflatable plane.
“This irresponsible and deeply mistaken approach by the US does not create a suitable atmosphere for dialogue and exchange between the two militaries,” China’s defense ministry said in a statement.
Earlier in the day, Washington said the balloons were part of a “fleet”, adding they had been seen around the world for years and urging allies to be vigilant.
In an interview with PBS NewsHour the same day, Biden defended the decision to fire and insisted that the US was not seeking conflict with China.
He also said Xi had “big problems”, including an “economy that is not working well”.
“Can you think of any other world leader who would trade places with Xi Jinping? I can’t think of one,” Biden said.
China hit back at the comments on Thursday, with foreign ministry spokesman Mao Ning telling a regular briefing that Beijing was “very dissatisfied”.
“This kind of rhetoric from the US is extremely irresponsible and goes against basic diplomatic etiquette,” Mao said, adding that Beijing “resolutely opposes this”.
It also doubled down on the position that the balloon was shot down last week for civilian purposes, saying it claims it is part of the fleet as part of an “information war” against China.
“The US ignores China’s repeated explanations and communications, overreacts, and irresponsible abuse of power,” Mao said.
“The international community can clearly see what the world’s biggest espionage, monitoring and surveillance state is.”
– ‘Be careful’ –
But in the face of mounting concerns about Chinese espionage in the sky, Japan said on Friday it was coordinating with Washington as it analyzed unidentified aerial objects spotted over the country last year.
A mysterious balloon-like object was spotted over northern Japan in June 2020, with locals posting images on social media.
The authorities said then they were baffled by the object, which in close-up pictures by residents and the media appears to consist of a balloon attached to a stick crossed with a propeller.
In a visit to Washington this week, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the device shot down by the US showed the need for countries in the alliance to protect themselves.
“The Chinese balloon over the United States confirms a pattern of Chinese behavior where we see that China in recent years has invested heavily in new military capabilities,” Stoltenberg said.
“We have also seen an increase in Chinese intelligence activities in Europe. They are using satellites, using cyber and, as we have seen in the United States, also balloons,” he said.
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