China says U.S. suspicion of security risks in Chinese drones is ‘irresponsible’

BEIJING (Reuters) – China called the United States “extremely irresponsible” for “groundlessly suspecting” there are information security risks in China’s drone systems, its commerce ministry said on Tuesday.

China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposes the U.S. investigating its drone systems and said it will closely monitor the situation.

China also urged the U.S. to respect facts and immediately stop what it called “erroneous practices”.

The U.S. Commerce Department said on Thursday it was considering new rules that would impose restrictions on Chinese drones to restrict or ban them in the United States, citing national security concerns.