China threatens ‘countermeasures’ against US entities over balloon’s downing

China warned on Wednesday that it will take “countermeasures” against U.S. entities over the takedown of a suspected Chinese spy balloon earlier this month.

“China firmly opposes this and will take countermeasures in accordance with the law against the relevant U.S. entities that undermine China’s sovereignty and security,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a briefing, adding that Beijing will “resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and its legitimate rights and interests.”

Wang did not go into detail about the countermeasures and did not identify the targets of those measures, The Associated Press noted.

President Biden ordered the balloon shot down on Feb. 4, an order that China claims was an overreaction. Beijing maintains that the balloon was a civilian weather balloon that went off course.

China has accused the U.S. of sending spy balloons over its country at least 10 times since May 2022.

Wang during Wednesday’s briefing accused the U.S. of flying high-altitude balloons over Xinjiang and Tibet regions, according to Reuters.

The U.S. has denied China’s accusations that it has flown spy balloons over the country.

“We are not flying balloons over China. This is absolutely true,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told MSNBC on Monday, responding to China’s claims.

Since the downing of the Chinese balloon earlier this month, the U.S. has shot down three more unidentified aerial objects over North America. Officials have been silent about the origins of those objects and their purposes.