Blinken Meets With China's Top Diplomat On Balloon Incursion; No 'Credible Explanation' Provided

In their first face-to-face meeting since the uproar over balloons entering U.S. airspace, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, on Saturday in Munich, Germany.

Blinken told Wang that the craft's entry into U.S. airspace was an "irresponsible act that must never again occur," reports the Wall Street Journal. 

According to the State Department, Blinken told his counterpart that China's surveillance balloon program "has been exposed to the world."

"The secretary directly spoke to the unacceptable violation of U.S. sovereignty and international law by the PRC high-altitude surveillance balloon in U.S. territorial airspace," said State Department spokesman Ned Price. 

According to the WSJ report, a senior State Department official said that the Chinese side didn't communicate "anything that provides any kind of credible explanation as to what this balloon was." 

Just met with the PRC’s top diplomat, Wang Yi. I condemned the incursion of the PRC surveillance balloon and stressed it must never happen again. I warned China against providing materiel support to Russia. I also emphasized the importance of keeping open lines of communication.

— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) February 18, 2023

After the meeting, China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported that "at the request of the U.S. side, Wang had an informal meeting with Blinken."

Wang told U.S. officials they should change how they're handling the balloon episode and move to repair the damage that its "excessive use of force caused to China-US relations," Xinhua reported. 

Earlier on Saturday, Wang attacked the U.S. for downing the Chinese balloon, describing its actions as "incomprehensible and almost hysterical," reports Bloomberg. 

Also Read: Xi Jinping's Minister Tells Blinken US Should Stop Trying To Suppress China

"The concern that we have now is, based on information we have, that they're considering providing lethal support," Blinken said in an interview with CBS. "And we've clarified to them that that could cause a serious problem for us and our relationship." 

Other than the balloon issue, Blinken discussed other matters with Wang about Russia's war against Ukraine and the condemnation of North Korea's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, the senior State Department official said. 

On condition of anonymity, a U.S. official said that Beijing appears to be trying to publicly promote peace and stability while covertly supporting Russia's aggression against its neighbor, Bloomberg reported. 

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the annual Munich Security Conference, where leaders from across the globe gathered to discuss critical geopolitical challenges. 

Earlier this month, U.S. military fighter jets shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon.

China had denied that it was a government spy vessel and said the "airship" had strayed into U.S. airspace by accident. 

However, the U.S. said it had recovered critical electronics from the suspected Chinese spy balloon last week. The U.S. military's Northern Command said it found some key sensors on the balloon, presumably used for intelligence gathering. 

Photo: US Department of Labor on flickr