The National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, on February 16 strongly condemned and firmly opposed a U.S. House of Representatives resolution on the entry of a Chinese civilian unmanned airship into the U.S. airspace.

The so-called resolution on China's use of a high-altitude balloon over United States territory, recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, hyped up the "China threat," which is nothing but malicious hype and political manipulation, the NPC Foreign Affairs Committee said in a statement.

The NPC strongly condemned and firmly opposed it, the statement said.

"As a responsible country, China strictly adheres to international law, respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, and has no intention of violating the territory and airspace of any sovereign country," the statement said.

The unintended entry of the unmanned Chinese civilian airship into U.S. airspace was purely an isolated, unexpected incident, which didn't pose any threat to any person or to the national security of the United States, it said, adding the Chinese side immediately briefed the United States and the international community on the situation and asked the U.S. side to properly handle the matter in a calm, professional and restrained manner.

The statement said that the U.S. side, however, insisted on using force and deliberately created a stir, which seriously violated the spirit of international law and international norms.

"Some politicians in the U.S. Congress are even utilizing the issue to fan the flames, fully exposing their sinister intention to contain China," it said. "In fact, it is the United States that wantonly interferes in other countries' internal affairs, infringes on other countries' sovereignty, and conducts extensive surveillance activities on other countries."

The statement emphasized that building China-U.S. relations featuring mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation serves the fundamental interests of the two peoples and is the common expectation of the international community.

The Chinese side strongly urges the U.S. Congress to respect the facts, the spirit of international law, and the basic principles of international relations, immediately stop maligning China, and refrain from taking actions that could escalate situations, it said.