Balloon crisis could have been avoided, says China's foreign minister

How is the relationship between the US and China?

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Beijing (CNN) --

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang told a news briefing Tuesday that the United States could have averted a "diplomatic crisis" with China over what he called the "unmanned airship incident." ".

The senior Chinese official also referred to the conflict in Ukraine on Tuesday.

"China did not create the crisis, is not a party to the crisis, and has not provided weapons to either party," he said.

"China always makes its own judgment and decides this position independently based on the merit of the issue. Between war and peace, we have chosen peace; between sanctions and dialogue, we have chosen dialogue; between fanning the flames and lower the temperature, we have chosen the latter," Qin Gang added.

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Last month, the United States shot down what it called a "high-altitude balloon capable of conducting intelligence-gathering operations" off its east coast.

China's foreign minister repeated Beijing's claim that the balloon passed through the United States in an "unexpected accident caused by force majeure."

Qin stated that "even the United States did not believe that he posed a physical threat."

However, in violation of the spirit of international law and international customary practices, the United States acted with a presumption of guilt."

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"An accident can reveal something fundamental. In this case, the US perception and views of China are seriously distorted. It regards China as its main rival and the most important geopolitical challenge. This is like putting the first button wrong of a shirt. And the result is that US policy toward China has completely deviated from the rational and healthy path."

hot air balloon