Washington: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned China that providing “lethal support” to Russia’s war against Ukraine would have “serious consequences” on bilateral ties between the two countries and condemned Beijing’s balloon incursion. Said it should never happen again. According to the US State Department, Blinken and Wang Yi, the most senior foreign policy official of the Chinese Communist Party, held an hour-long conversation on Saturday in Munich, where he was attending an international security conference.
The two high-profile diplomats met in their first high-level contact since the US shot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon a fortnight ago. “I made it very clear to them that China sending a surveillance balloon over the US, in violation of international law, in violation of our sovereignty, was unacceptable and should never happen again,” Blinken told CBS News in an interview. Needed.”
His spokesman Ned Price said Blinken also told the Chinese diplomat that his country’s “high altitude surveillance balloon program – which has intruded into the airspace of more than 40 countries across five continents – has been exposed to the world.”
The balloon incident prompted Blinken to postpone a planned trip to Beijing.
The February 5-6 visit would be the first by a US secretary of state to China in five years and was seen by the two countries as an opportunity to stabilize their strained ties.
Blinken also raised the issue of the Russia-Ukraine war with Wang during Saturday’s meeting.
Blinken said, “There were concerns that China was considering giving lethal support to Russia in the war against Ukraine. I was able to share with them, as President Biden shared with President Xi, that our There will be serious consequences for the relationship.”
They also underlined the importance of maintaining open lines of diplomatic dialogue and communication at all times. “Ultimately, it was important for me to underline that we believe it is very important to have lines of communication, to engage in direct diplomacy. We have a responsibility to manage our relationship in a responsible way,” he said.
The two diplomats are likely to meet again on the sidelines of the G-20 foreign ministers’ meeting in New Delhi next month.
Hours after the meeting between the two senior officials, Wang criticized Beijing for the US, which Washington called a Chinese spy balloon, arguing at the conference in Germany that the move did not signal American strength.
Wang explained, “The action does not show that America is big and strong, but describes just the opposite.”
“This is actually a political spectacle created by the US. We have clearly told them that it is a civilian unmanned airship. Due to the effect of super westerly winds and its limited controllability, it deviated from the planned path And entered the sky.”We told them to work with China and properly handle it in a rational, calm and professional manner,” Xinhua news agency quoted Wang as saying.
After delivering the keynote address at the Munich Security Conference, Wang told Chinese media that everyone is concerned about how the recent balloon incident has affected Sino-US relations.
“Sadly, the US ignored basic facts and brazenly sent fighter jets to shoot down a non-threatened airship with missiles. This behavior is unbelievable, almost hysterical and 100 percent abuse of force, Which clearly violates international conventions,” he said. Added.
Wang urged Washington to show seriousness, correct its mistakes, and address the damage caused to Sino-US relations by the incident.