Beijing calls US claims over balloons ‘information warfare’

US officials have dismissed China’s claims and agents from the FBI and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service are cataloguing debris recovered from the ocean and transporting it for further processing.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning gestures during a press conference in Beijing (Liu Zheng/AP)

US accusations that a downed Chinese balloon was part of an extensive spy programme amount to “information warfare against China”, it has been claimed.

On Wednesday, the Pentagon said the balloon shot down off the South Carolina coast on Saturday was part of a programme involving a number of such airships China has been operating for “several years”.