Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang at the press conference on Tuesday (Photo: Global Times) 

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday slammed the US for wrongly accusing and expelling two Chinese diplomats for allegedly spying in the US, and urged the US to reverse the decision and protect their legitimate rights and interests, while Chinese experts suggested the authorities consider countermeasures to limit US diplomats in China if necessary.

The ministry's remarks made after The New York Times reported Sunday that the US government secretly expelled two Chinese Embassy officials in September for driving onto a military base in Virginia. 

In response, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Geng Shuang said at a news briefing on Monday that the accusation severely contradicts the truth. The Chinese government has lodged solemn representations with the US, and China strongly urged the US to reverse the decision and protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese diplomats under the protocol of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations, said Geng.

"Here we once again remind the US side that countries provide each other's diplomatic personnel with convenience and guarantee in accordance with the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations on a mutual basis," Geng said.

Nothing about the expulsion was revealed when it occurred in September but the information became public right after China and the US reached a phase one trade deal on Friday, leading Chinese experts to speculate that some "anti-China forces" in the US wanted to reinforce tensions between the two countries. 

Given the US' tight grip on sensitive sectors such as military bases, the Chinese experts dismissed as untenable and illogical allegations by US officials that Chinese diplomats became bolder by showing up unannounced at US research or government facilities.

China may consider countermeasures to limit the activities of US diplomats in China if necessary, the experts suggested. 

The New York Times cited a book on Chinese espionage saying that from 2010 to 2012, Chinese officers killed at least a dozen informants and imprisoned others including a man and his pregnant wife who were shot in 2011 in a ministry courtyard.

"The sensational story sounds dramatic, in line with the literary and even made-up passages that many American media have been accustomed to use to grab attention," said Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University's Institute of International Relations in Beijing, told the Global Times.

"As a reader, this narrative delivers a less credible story that serves American sentiment and voice against China."Li said the US has increasingly slandered Chinese diplomats, students and even those who work and live in the US with spying for China.

Diao Daming, an associate professor at Renmin University of China in Beijing, told the Global Times many of China's normal exchanges were politicized and labeled as espionage activities, which were groundless accusation unconducive to the development of bilateral relations.

Over the years, the behavior of Chinese diplomats has been proved to be in full compliance with the laws and regulations of the host country, and so-called travel without announcement was impossible as it is not in line with the normal professional ethics of Chinese diplomatic officials, said Li. 

A big country like the US should not leverage a "spy theory" against China and be so paranoid about China's every move, the Chinese observers warned.Once those frictions between the two countries deteriorate, the US trick against China will backfire on itself, analysts said.