China accuses the U.S. of 'illegally flying balloons' into its airspace

CHINA has accused the United States of America of 'illegally flying balloons' into its airspace.

"The U.S. needs to make a thorough investigation and give China an explanation on this," foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a regular briefing in Beijing.

The U.S. military on Feb. 4 shot down what it called a Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina. China said the balloon was a civilian research craft that had mistakenly blown off course and on Monday (February 13) it accused the United States of sending spy balloons over to China. The United States denied that.

Since then, the U.S. military has shot down three other flying objects over North America, most recently on Sunday (February 12), when an octagonal object was downed over Lake Huron, the Pentagon said.