Chinese official insists spy balloons weren’t government property, refuses to clarify who is responsible

A Chinese official repeated government claims Tuesday that the spy balloons shot down in U.S. airspace are privately owned but would not offer further information.

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Mao Ning addressed the balloon issue during a press conference in Beijing. Mao was asked by foreign press for comment on U.S. reports that the balloons were gathering intelligence during their flight. 

Mao responded, “We have made it clear time and again that the unmanned Chinese civilian airship drifting over the US was a purely unexpected and isolated event caused by force majeure. China firmly rejects distortion, hyping up and political manipulation of this unexpected and isolated event.”

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The spokeswoman was pushed by the press for a follow-up, asking for information on the ownership of the balloons – now more than two months out from the initial incidents.

“China has made it clear multiple times that the unmanned airship is a civilian airship used for meteorological and other research purposes,” Mao replied.

A final follow-up was asked, directly requesting the name of the company responsible for the balloon.

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“I have nothing more to add,” Mao concluded.

A Democratic senator said on Monday that China intended to invade the airspace over the U.S. when a balloon traversed over the country for days in February, and he plans to hold the Biden administration accountable.

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., made the comments via social media on Monday after reading reports that said the Chinese spy balloon collected intelligence from multiple military sites in the U.S., even though the Biden administration attempted to stop it from doing so, citing two senior U.S. officials and a senior administration official.

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“We knew all along that China’s invasion of our airspace was no accident,” Tester said. “There’s nothing more important than keeping America safe, and I’ll keep holding the Biden Administration accountable to ensure Montanans’ freedom and privacy are protected.”

Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh was questioned extensively about the Chinese balloon during a press briefing on Monday.

She reiterated comments made early on that the balloon could hover and be maneuvered so it purposely followed along a specific track.

“What we did do is take precautionary steps to limit the intelligence value that it would be able to collect,” Singh said. “…we took steps to protect our own military installations from foreign intelligence collection.”

Fox News’ Greg Wehner contributed to this report.