US and China discuss spy balloon disputes in Munich

MUNICH (AP) — Top U.S. and Chinese diplomats met on Saturday in the first high-level contact between the two countries since Washington shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon two weeks ago, and the secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed that the Beijing spy program was “exposed to the world”.

Blinken and Wang Yi, the Chinese Communist Party’s top foreign policy official, spoke for an hour in Munich, where they were attending the international security conference, according to the US State Department.

“I condemned the PRC spy balloon raid and stressed that it must not happen again,” Blinken said in a tweet referring to the PRC.

Ned Price, a spokesperson for Blinken, said in a statement that the Secretary of State “has made it clear that the United States will not tolerate any violation of our sovereignty and that the PRC’s high-altitude spy balloon program — which violated Blinken’s policy the airspace of more than 40 countries on five continents — was exposed to the world,” Price said.

Blinken had canceled a visit to Beijing earlier this month due to the balloon incident, which has become a major point of dispute between the two countries.

Various sectors had planned that the meeting would take place in Germany.

Blinken also told Wang that the United States did not seek conflict with China, in a reiteration of the US government’s usual view since the start of the Biden presidency.

“The United States will compete and defend our values ​​and interests wholeheartedly, but we don’t want to come into conflict with the PRC or seek a new Cold War,” Price said.

Blinken “stressed the importance of maintaining diplomatic dialogue and open lines of communication at all times.”

In addition to the balloon incident, Price said Blinken reiterated a warning to China for providing assistance to Russia in its war against Ukraine, such as helping Moscow evade Western sanctions against Russia. .

“I warned China not to provide material support to Russia,” Blinken said in his tweet. “I also stressed the importance of keeping lines of communication open.”