There are no US surveillance aircraft in Chinese airspace, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said today.
Earlier, China claimed that US high-altitude balloons had flown over its airspace without permission more than 10 times since the beginning of 2022.
"Since last year, the US's high-altitude balloons have undergone more than ten illegal flights into Chinese airspace without the approval of the relevant Chinese departments," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a regular briefing in Beijing in response to a question.
Mr Wang did not specifically describe the balloons as military or for espionage purposes and did not provide further details.
Asked at a White House press briefing to clarify whether the United States was operating aircraft in Chinese-claimed airspace as opposed to over China's internationally recognised territory, Mr Kirby declined to specify further.
"There is no US surveillance aircraft in Chinese airspace," he said.
China says the self-governed island of Taiwan is its territory. It also claims vast swathes of the South China Sea, to which other countries, including Brunei, the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam, also lay claim.
Washington supports a 2016 ruling under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) that invalidated most of China's claims to maritime rights in the South China Sea.
At times, the US military conducts what it calls freedom of navigation operations in disputed waters near atolls where Beijing has built up military bases.
Those operations anger Beijing, which accuses the United States of damaging regional stability and stirring up controversy over maritime disputes.
China's accusation about balloons widened a dispute with the United States that began after the US military shot down what it says was a Chinese spy balloon on 4 February.
The appearance of the balloon prompted top US diplomat Antony Blinken to cancel a trip to Beijing that had been designed to ease tensions.
China said the balloon that was shot down on 4 February was a civilian research craft that had mistakenly blown off course and accused the United States of overreacting.
Since then, the US military has shot down three other objects over North America, most recently yesterday, when an octagonal object was downed over Lake Huron, the Pentagon said.
Meanwhile, the White House said there is no indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity after the shoot-downs of the unidentified objects over North American airspace.
"I know there have been questions and concerns about this, but there is no, again no, indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity with these recent takedowns," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Yesterday, a US Air Force general said he would not rule out aliens or any other explanation yet, deferring to US intelligence experts.
The general's comments came during a Pentagon briefing yesterday after a US F-16 fighter jet shot down the octagonal-shaped object over Lake Huron on the US-Canada border.
What we know about mysterious objects downed by US
Another US defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the military had seen no evidence suggesting any of the objects in question were of extraterrestrial origin.
"I don't think the American people need to worry about aliens with respect to these crafts, period," Mr Kirby said during the White House briefing today.
Currently operations are under way to recover all four objects that were shot down, Assistant Secretary of Defence Melissa Dalton said.
Canadian officials described the object shot down over Canada's far northwest on Saturday as small and cylindrical, roughly the size of a Volkswagen car.
Recovery teams backed by a Canadian CP-140 patrol aircraft were continuing their search yesterday for debris in the Yukon, officials said.
US teams were struggling with Arctic conditions as they searched near Deadhorse, Alaska, where the second object was shot down on Friday.
Operations were also continuing off the South Carolina coast, where the past week's drama climaxed when the initial large balloon was shot down.
