The head of the American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, told his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, that the incident of the Chinese balloon shot down by the American army should not “never again happen”during a rare meeting, Saturday, February 18 in Munich (Germany), reported the spokesman for the State Department.
The US Secretary of State also warned Wang Yi against “implications and consequences” for China if it turns out that it brings a “material support” to Russia in its war against Ukraine, according to the same source.
The meeting, which took place away from the media on the sidelines of the security conference, lasted about an hour. Mr Blinken insisted to his counterpart that the affair of the Chinese balloon, which flew over American territory for several days before being shot down, had been an act “irresponsible”.
Rekindled tensions
This incident forced Mr. Blinken to postpone at the last moment a rare trip to Beijing scheduled for early February and reignited tensions between the two countries.
“The Secretary of State made it clear to him that the United States will not tolerate any violation of its sovereignty and that China’s high-altitude surveillance balloon program had been exposed to the eyes of the world”continued the spokesman for the State Department.
“Regarding Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine, the secretary warned of the implications and consequences if China is found to be providing material support to Russia or helping it evade sanctions” imposed by the West.
Mr. Blinken, however, reiterated to Wang Yi that the United States was not seeking the ” conflict “ with China nor a “new cold war” and that Washington intended to keep lines of communication open with Beijing despite their differences.