WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with China’s top diplomat Wang Yi on Saturday, according to State Department Spokesperson Ned Price.
This is the first face-to-face meeting that senior U.S. and Chinese officials have had since the Biden administration shot down a Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
“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, underscoring that this irresponsible act must never again occur,” Price said in a statement.
Price added that Blinken made clear that the U.S. “will not stand for any violation of our sovereignty, and that the PRC’s high altitude surveillance balloon program — which has intruded into the air space of over 40 countries across 5 continents —has been exposed to the world.”
Blinken postponed a trip to China earlier this month because the spy balloon was a “clear violation” of sovereignty and international law.
President Joe Biden ordered the military to shoot down the spy balloon, which was first spotted in Montana, after it crossed into the contiguous United States. The military advised the president to wait to shoot it down until it reached the ocean to avoid debris from hurting people on the ground.
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The balloon maneuvered over sensitive U.S. missile and nuclear weapons sites in addition to ones in Montana passed over before being shot down off the South Carolina coast.
Biden said Thursday that he expects to speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping on the balloon.
“We’re going to get to the bottom of this, but I make no apologies for taking down that balloon,” Biden said Thursday.
Reach Rebecca Morin at Twitter @RebeccaMorin_