In their first high-level meeting since the United States shot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon two weeks ago, the top diplomats from the United States and China met on Saturday.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken conveyed that Beijing’s surveillance program had been “exposed to the world.”
The U.S. claims that Blinken and Wang Yi, the top diplomat for the Chinese Communist Party, spoke for an hour when they were both in Munich for a conference on global security. State Department.
Blinken stated in a Saturday interview for the CBS’ “Face the Nation. ”I made very clear to him that China launching its surveillance balloon over the United States in violation of our sovereignty, in violation of international law, was unacceptable and must never happen again.”
According to a statement from his spokesman, Ned Price, Blinken also informed the Chinese official that the world was now aware of his country’s “high-altitude surveillance balloon program, which has violated the airspace of over 40 countries across five continents.”
As a result of the balloon incident, which has grown to be a central friction point between the two countries, Blinken had to cancel a trip to Beijing earlier this month. There was going to be a meeting at the conference in Germany.
In addition, Blinken reiterated a common talking point that the Biden administration has offered since taking office: “The United States does not seek conflict with China.”
Price declared, “The United States will compete and defend its values and interests. Yet, we do not desire conflict with the PRC and are not seeking a new Cold War.”
The significance of always keeping diplomatic discourse going and maintaining lines of communication open was emphasized by Blinken.
In addition to the balloon incident, Price claimed Blinken had warned China again about aiding Russia in its conflict with Ukraine, especially by helping Moscow avoid the sanctions the West has put in place.
Blinken tweeted, “I advised China against giving material backing to Moscow. “I also stressed how crucial it is to maintain open communication channels.”
Wang had earlier on Saturday reiterated Beijing’s criticism of the US for shooting down the balloon, claiming that the action did not demonstrate US strength.
Beijing maintains that the white orb shot down off the coast of Carolina on February 4 was simply an errant civilian airship primarily employed for meteorological research that got out of control owing to the wind and had only rudimentary “self-steering” skills.
In an address at the conference, Wang, the director of the Office of the Central Committee for Foreign Affairs, reiterated that assertion and said that by destroying the item with a missile fired from an American fighter plane, the United States violated international legal rules.
The acts portray the opposite of what Wang claims: that the United States is powerful and large.
Wang also accused the U.S. of ignoring China’s economic gains and aiming to obstruct its continued development.
“What we hope for from the U.S. is a pragmatic and positive approach to China that allows us to work together,” Wang added.
Wang made his remarks just before Vice President Kamala Harris spoke to the conference; neither she nor Wang addressed the balloon topic. She emphasized the significance of maintaining the “international order based on rules.”
She stated that Washington is “concerned” about Beijing’s “deepening ties with Moscow since the start of the war” in Ukraine and that any action taken by China to offer lethal support to Russia “would simply reward aggression, extend the bloodshed, and further undermine a rules-based order.”
JOIN US ON WHAT'SAPP, TO GET INSTANT STATUS UPDATES AND BE IN THE KNOW.
CLICK HERE
