China denies inspecting US helicopter used in Bin Laden raid

The crashed military helicopter's tail at the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where Osama bin Laden was killed in a raid by US special forces in May. Photograph: Str/AFP/Getty Images

China has denied claims that Pakistan allowed it see the wrecked US helicopter used in the raid to kill Osama bin Laden.

In a one-line statement – Beijing's first response to the allegations – the defence ministry described the reports as "groundless and preposterous".

The Financial Times reported on Sunday that Pakistan gave Chinese military engineers access to the aircraft, citing US sources close to the White House and CIA.

It said the officials were allowed to survey the wreckage of the modified Black Hawk and take samples of its "stealth" skin before it was handed back to the US.

The New York Times also quoted American intelligence sources who said that Chinese officials had photographed the remains of the helicopter, adding that the information was based on intercepted phone calls.

Pakistani officials had hinted after the raid in Abbottabad that they might grant access to the wreckage to their close ally.

But a Pakistani intelligence official, who declined to be named, told the Guardian on Tuesday the story was "baseless", adding "speculation … is counterproductive in building relations".

The helicopter crash-landed during the raid and special forces blew it up to prevent it falling into foreign hands, but a substantial tail section survived.

Experts immediately noted key differences from other Black Hawks, including the outer skin and curved shape; apparently part of its radar-avoidance technology. They believe the helicopter was also equipped with noise- and heat-suppression devices.

Pakistan returned the surviving section to the US after a trip by senator John Kerry in May. But US sources believe it had already allowed China onto the site, perhaps in retaliation for the May raid.

The US has poured billions of dollars of aid into Pakistan, but relations were strained before the raid and deteriorated rapidly amid mutual recrimination. Many in the US are suspicious that Bin Laden was able to hide in Pakistan for so long, while Islamabad saw the raid on its soil as humiliating.

China and Pakistan are longstanding "all-weather friends", who share suspicion of their neighbour India, and of US influence in Asia.

Beijing greeted Bin Laden's death as a positive development, but also defended the Pakistani government from criticism, saying it had made an important contribution to the war on terrorism.