China on Monday denied reports that Chinese entities supplied Iran with satellite images of a military base housing US troops in Jordan before and after an Iranian missile strike that killed three American soldiers.
The report, published by the Wall Street Journal over the weekend, concerned Iranian missile attacks on the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan on July 17.
The newspaper cited unnamed US officials but did not identify the Chinese entities allegedly involved. It also did not accuse the Chinese government of directly supplying the information.
“We firmly oppose groundless suspicion and accusations without evidence,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told reporters at a regular press briefing on Monday.
US President Donald Trump also sought to play down the report, as tensions between Washington and Beijing remain ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s planned visit to the White House on September 24.
“When they say that China spies on us, I say you’re right, and we spy on them too,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday.
“That’s what we do. They basically do what we do,” he added.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese officials had asked US officials for evidence that satellite imagery was transferred to Iran but declined to acknowledge that Chinese companies were involved in providing such imagery to Tehran.
Trump has previously warned Beijing against supplying weapons to Iran. In May, Washington also sanctioned three China-based satellite companies, accusing them of supporting Iran’s military operations.
China is a major economic partner of Iran and buys a large portion of the country’s oil exports. Beijing is also an important diplomatic supporter of Tehran.
Despite the tensions, Trump said on Sunday that Xi had behaved reasonably in his dealings with Washington.
“He’s behaved reasonably well, and we behave reasonably well,” Trump said.
Asked whether he would allow Chinese-made cars to be sold in the United States, Trump said tariffs had so far kept them out of the American market.
“I haven’t. I’m the one that kept them out. The tariffs kept them out,” he said.
