U.S. fabrication on China's airship violates int'l obligations: FM spokesperson

BEIJING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday blamed the United States for violating its obligations under the Convention on International Civil Aviation, also known as Chicago Convention, and multiple basic principles of international law, as it has slanderously described China's civilian unmanned airship as a "spy balloon" and engaged in the abuse of force.

Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, made the accusation at a press briefing in response to a query about the U.S. ongoing "analysis and investigation into" the unmanned airship that was shot down by the U.S. military after its unexpected entry into the U.S. airspace.

Wang said that China has explicitly told the U.S. side multiple times that the entry of the Chinese civilian unmanned airship was an entirely unintended, unexpected and isolated event caused by force majeure.

From salvaging the wreckage to analyzing the debris, the U.S. side has been operating unilaterally and secretly, said Wang.

He added that China has, through the channel of consular protection, requested the U.S. side to report on the progress, to which the United States failed to respond.

China has to strongly question the independence, openness and transparency of the so-called investigation, the spokesperson said. "What credibility does such an investigation have?"

"The U.S. position on the incident has long been preset. It has been completely hijacked by domestic politics and serves the strategy of containing and suppressing China," Wang noted.

He questioned whether, just as U.S. President Biden gave the order to shoot down the civilian airship by force as early as Feb. 1, the so-called investigation report has already been concocted.

"The so-called conclusions in the report are nothing more than repeating the false statements and groundless accusations that the U.S. side often spreads these days," said Wang. "What value can such a report have other than to slander and attack China?"