China on Monday urged the United States to correct its “mistake” of expelling Chinese officials.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said U.S. accusations against the officials went against the facts and that the United States needs to properly protect the rights of diplomats.

Geng spoke to reporters in response to questions about a New York Times report that said the United States secretly expelled two Chinese officials after they drove onto a military base in the state of Virginia.

The report, citing people with knowledge of the situation, said the incident took place in late September with the two officers and their wives driving to a base checkpoint, then being told to go through the gate so they could turn around and exit.  The officials instead continued further into the base and were stopped only when they reached a road blocked by fire trucks.

The Times said the officials, at least one of them an intelligence officer, explained they had misunderstood the instructions to turn around at the gate and had become lost.

The report said U.S. officials dismissed that explanation, and viewed the incident as a potential test of the base’s security.