Beijing went on the offensive Thursday by dismissing U.S. officials’ claims about the downed balloon being part of a massive espionage effort as “information warfare” against China. The Pentagon on Wednesday said the balloon blasted out of the sky off the coast of South Carolina over the weekend was part of a years-long spying program operated by China that involved multiple airships. But on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning stuck to China’s official story that the balloon was merely a civilian meteorological airship which had inadvertently been blown off course. “It is irresponsible,” Mao said of the balloon being shot down. She added that the latest allegations could be “part of the U.S. side’s information warfare against China.”