China's top legislature on Thursday strongly condemned and firmly opposed a recent U.S. House of Representatives resolution on the entry of a Chinese civilian unmanned airship into U.S. airspace.

The so-called resolution on China's use of a high-altitude balloon over U.S. territory hyped up the "China threat," which is nothing more than malicious hype-up and political manipulation, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) said in a statement.

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

The statement stressed that China, as a responsible country, always strictly abides by international law, respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries and has no intention to violate the territory and airspace of any sovereign state.

The unmanned Chinese airship was first spotted in U.S. airspace earlier this month and Washington later shot it down.

Noting that the unmanned Chinese airship entered the U.S. due to force majeure, the statement said it's entirely an unexpected incident and doesn't pose any threat to U.S. personnel and security.

China immediately briefed the unexpected incident to the U.S. side and international community and asked the U.S. to handle the situation in a calm, professional and restrained manner, said the statement, adding that the U.S. side's use of force is a serious violation of international law and practice.

Denouncing certain U.S. politicians' use of the case to fan the flames, the statement said that it's the U.S. that wantonly interferes in the internal affairs of other countries, infringes upon the sovereignty of other countries and spies on other countries.

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The statement stressed that a relationship based on win-win outcomes and mutual respect is in the fundamental interest of people in China as well as the U.S. and expected by the international community. It urged the U.S. Congress to respect facts, the spirit of international law and basic norms governing international relations, and stop the wrong practice of slandering China and taking actions that escalate the situation.  

(Cover: A screenshot of the statement. /Website of China's National People's Congress)