China said it will "resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests" over the shooting down of a suspected Chinese spy balloon by the United States.
The balloon prompted US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel a highly-anticipated visit to Beijing this week that had offered slight hopes for an improvement in relations.
China claims it was a civilian balloon used for meteorological research but has refused to say to which government department or company it belongs.
READ MORE: China accuses US of indiscriminate use of force over balloon
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning reiterated that the "unmanned airship" posed no threat and entered US airspace accidentally.
Mao again criticized the US for overreacting rather than adopting a "calm, professional" manner, and for using force in bringing the balloon down Saturday in the Atlantic Ocean just off the US coast.
Asked if China wanted the debris returned, she only reasserted that the balloon "belongs to China."
"The balloon does not belong to the US. The Chinese government will continue to resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests," Mao said.
Beijing's attitude has hardened considerably following a surprisingly mild initial response on Friday, in which it described the balloon's presence as an accident and expressed "regret" for the balloon having entered the US.
US-China tensions have stirred deep concern in Washington and among many of its allies. They worry that outright conflict could have a strong negative impact on the global economy, especially since Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year, on which China has largely sided with Moscow.
Balloons either suspected of or confirmed to be Chinese have been spotted over countries from Japan to Costa Rica. Taiwanese media have reported that mysterious white balloons had been spotted over the island at least three times in the past two years.
Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence has never explicitly linked the balloons to China. However, the recent furore over the Chinese balloon in the US brought attention back to these mysterious sightings.
The size of the Chinese balloon in the US, as well as the equipment attached to it, had all drawn intense speculation as to its purpose. Along with Washington, most security experts dismissed Beijing's assertions that the balloon was intended for meteorological rather than spying purposes.
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