Blinken meets with China’s top diplomat in first meeting since balloon controversy

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, on Saturday. It is the highest level of contact between the two countries since the discovery of a Chinese surveillance balloon over U.S. airspace earlier this month.

The highly anticipated meeting took place in Munich, Germany, while both attended the Munich Security Conference, according to Ned Price, a spokesperson for the State Department. The meeting comes at a time in which tension between the two nations has escalated over national security concerns.

On Feb. 2, U.S. officials confirmed a balloon they said belonged to China was spotted floating over Montana. While Chinese officials maintain that the balloon, which the U.S. shot down, was intended for research, the Pentagon claims that China intended to use it for surveillance. The incident led Blinken to postpone a previously planned trip to Beijing.

In a U.S. summary of the meeting, Price said Blinken “directly spoke to the unacceptable violation of U.S. sovereignty and international law by the [People’s Republic of China] high-altitude surveillance balloon in U.S. territorial airspace, underscoring that this irresponsible act must never again occur.”

Blinken also discussed other ongoing affairs with Wang, according to Price, including discouraging China from supporting Russia in its ongoing war with Ukraine and condemning North Korea’s firing of a missile into the sea of Japan.

“The Secretary underscored the importance of maintaining diplomatic dialogue and open lines of communication at all times,” Price said.

It’s too soon to tell how the meeting will impact relations between the U.S. and China. Earlier this week, Biden said he would speak with China’s leader Xi Jinping but would not apologize for shooting the balloon down.