---
title: "China warns of retaliation against US over balloon saga"
description: "China warned that it will retaliate against the US over violations of its sovereignty, potentially escalating the lingering balloon dispute just as top diplomats from both nations plan to attend a security conference in Germany."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Business Maverick"
author: "Bloomberg"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/bloomberg/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-02-16-china-warns-of-retaliation-against-us-over-balloon-saga/"
published: "2023-02-16T05:39:29"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 383
---

# China warns of retaliation against US over balloon saga

> China warned that it will retaliate against the US over violations of its sovereignty, potentially escalating the lingering balloon dispute just as top diplomats from both nations plan to attend a security conference in Germany.

By Bloomberg · Published 16 February 2023, 07:39 SAST

## Key points
- China and the US have been embroiled in an ongoing balloon controversy, with Beijing accusing American aircraft of intruding on Chinese airspace. At a briefing this week, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin warned that China would take countermeasures against US entities that "undermine our sovereignty and security". He also said that some of the 10 balloons passing over Xinjiang and Tibet had been launched by the US. The Biden administration has imposed sanctions on Chinese firms linked to a military-backed global balloon espionage programme, prompting China to threaten retaliation. Secretary of State Antony Blinken cancelled a trip to Beijing this month amid the dispute, but it remains to be seen if tensions will prevent a meeting between Blinken and China's top diplomat Wang Yi at the Munich Security Conference this week.
- China has strongly criticised the US for downing a Chinese aircraft and imposing sanctions on Chinese companies.
- Beijing has warned of countermeasures against US entities that have undermined its sovereignty and security.
- China's Ministry of Commerce has created an 'unreliable entity' list to punish firms after the US imposed sanctions on Huawei Technologies.
- It remains to be seen if the latest back-and-forth will prevent a meeting between Secretary of State Antony Blinken with Wang Yi, China’s top diplomat, this week.

## Content

At a briefing on Wednesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin repeated Beijing’s view that the Chinese aircraft downed by a US jet off the South Carolina coast this month had inadvertently floated over the country after being blown off course. He criticised the Biden administration’s decision to take it out and later sanction Chinese companies, saying the moves would have consequences.

“China is strongly opposed to this and will take countermeasures against relevant US entities that have undermined our sovereignty and security to firmly safeguard our sovereignty and legitimate rights and interests,” Wang said.

Some of the 10 US balloons that Beijing says travelled over China since May last year passed over Xinjiang and Tibet, Wang added. Those are two regions in China’s far west where the government is accused by the US and other nations of human rights violations against minorities, charges Beijing denies.

The retaliation warning appears to be a reaction to the US [adding Chinese firms](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-02-10/us-set-to-sanction-chinese-firms-connected-to-balloon-uproar) to an export blacklist last week over what it argues are links to a military-backed global balloon espionage programme. Wang didn’t explain how China could retaliate, but the threat is similar to ones that Beijing has made in the past against foreign entities that it says damage Chinese companies by complying with foreign sanctions.

In 2019 China’s Ministry of Commerce announced it was creating an “[unreliable entity](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-04/understanding-china-s-unreliable-entities-blacklist-quicktake)” list to punish firms after the US imposed sanctions on Huawei Technologies, and in 2021 it announced new rules that allowed lawsuits in Chinese courts against companies that complied with overseas sanctions.

The ministry has never published the details of the list or announced that any company was added to it. There’s been no public use of the rules to punish foreign firms.

China and the US had appeared to be trying to move on from the dispute. The US said on Tuesday that three other objects downed by American jets over the past week served commercial purposes and weren’t used for spying.

It remains to be seen if the latest back-and-forth will prevent a meeting between Secretary of State Antony Blinken with Wang Yi, China’s top diplomat, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference this week. Blinken had cancelled a planned trip to Beijing this month when the initial balloon controversy erupted.**BM/DM**