U.S. high-altitude balloons have flown over Chinese airspace over 10 times since last year: FM spokesman

(ECNS) -- U.S. balloons have often entered other countries' airspace illegally. Since last year, U.S. high-altitude balloons have flown over Chinese airspace over ten times without authorization from China, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin on Monday.

Wang made the remarks at a regular news briefing in Beijing.

"The U.S. military vessels and aircraft conduct frequent close-in reconnaissance on China, including 657 sorties last year and 64 sorties in January this year in the South China Sea alone, which seriously undermines China’s national security and regional peace and stability," Wang said.

"Over the years, the U.S. has been engaged in massive, non-discriminate wiretapping and secret theft operations globally, including against its allies, by abusing its tech advantage. These operations violate the sovereignty and interests of countries around the world, the international law and basic norms governing international relations, which makes the U.S. the absolute No.1 country in terms of spying and surveillance," he added.

The U.S. needs to reflect on its own behavior and change course rather than attacking others and stoking confrontation, the spokesman noticed.