China calls US House resolution ‘political manipulation’

By DAKE KANG and HUIZHONG WU
Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) — China has dismissed a U.S. House of Representatives resolution condemning Beijing over a suspected Chinese spy balloon shot down above U.S. waters as “purely political manipulation and hyping up.” A Foreign Ministry spokesperson says China is “strongly dissatisfied with this and firmly opposes it.” The resolution, which passed unanimously on Thursday, accused China of a “brazen violation” of U.S. sovereignty and making “false claims about its intelligence collection campaigns.” Meanwhile, China’s Defense Ministry says it refused a call from U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin after the downing of the balloon because the U.S. had “not created the proper atmosphere” for dialogue.