{"id":1157202,"date":"2023-02-18T14:18:45","date_gmt":"2023-02-18T19:18:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/blinken-chinas-balloon-incursion-must-never-happen-again\/1157202\/"},"modified":"2023-02-18T14:18:45","modified_gmt":"2023-02-18T19:18:45","slug":"blinken-chinas-balloon-incursion-must-never-happen-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/blinken-chinas-balloon-incursion-must-never-happen-again\/1157202\/","title":{"rendered":"Blinken: China’s balloon incursion ‘must never happen again’"},"content":{"rendered":"

MUNICH (AP) \u2014 The top diplomats from the United States and China met on Saturday in the first high-level contact between their countries since the U.S. shot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon<\/a> two weeks ago, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken sending the message that Beijing’s surveillance program had been \u201cexposed to the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blinken and Wang Yi, the Chinese Communist Party\u2019s most senior foreign policy official, held the hourlong talks in Munich, where they were attending an international security conference, according to the U.S. State Department.<\/p>\n

\u201cI condemned the incursion of the PRC surveillance balloon and stressed it must never happen again,\u201d Blinken said in a tweet, referring to the People\u2019s Republic of China.<\/p>\n

His spokesman, Ned Price, said in a statement that Blinken “made clear the United States will not stand for any violation of our sovereignty, and that the PRC\u2019s high-altitude surveillance balloon program \u2014 which has intruded into the airspace of over 40 countries across five continents \u2014 has been exposed to the world,\u201d Price said.<\/p>\n

Blinken had canceled a trip to Beijing<\/a> earlier this month due to the balloon incident, which has become a major issue of contention between the two countries. A meeting at the conference in Germany had been widely anticipated.<\/p>\n

Blinken also told Wang that the U.S. does not seek conflict with China, repeating a standard talking point that the Biden administration has provided since it has come into office.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe United States will compete and will unapologetically stand up for our values and interests, but that we do not want conflict with the PRC and are not looking for a new Cold War,” Price said. Blinken “underscored the importance of maintaining diplomatic dialogue and open lines of communication at all times.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In addition to the balloon incident, Price said Blinken had reiterated a warning to China<\/a> on providing assistance to Russia to help with its war against Ukraine, including assisting Moscow with evading sanctions the West has imposed on Russia.<\/p>\n

\u201cI warned China against providing materiel support to Russia,\u201d Blinken said in his tweet. “I also emphasized the importance of keeping open lines of communication.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier Saturday, Wang had renewed Beijing’s criticism of the United States for shooting down the balloon, arguing that the move did not point to U.S. strength.<\/p>\n

Beijing insists the white orb shot down off the Carolina coast on Feb. 4 was just an errant civilian airship<\/a> used mainly for meteorological research that went off course due to winds and had only limited \u201cself-steering\u201d capabilities.<\/p>\n

Wang, the director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, repeated that insistence in a speech at the conference and accused the U.S. of violating international legal norms in destroying the object with a missile fired from an U.S. fighter jet.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe actions don\u2019t show that the U.S. is big and strong, but describe the exact opposite,\u201d Wang said.<\/p>\n

Wang also accused the U.S. of denying China\u2019s economic advances and seeking to impede its further development.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we hope for from the U.S. is a pragmatic and positive approach to China that allows us to work together,\u201d Wang said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His comments came shortly before an address to the conference by Vice President Kamala Harris, who didn’t mention the balloon controversy or respond to Wang’s comments. She stressed the importance of upholding the \u201cinternational rules-based order.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said Washington is \u201ctroubled that Beijing has deepened its relationship with Moscow since the war began\u201d in Ukraine and that \u201clooking ahead, any steps by China to provide lethal support to Russia would only reward aggression, continue the killing and further undermine a rules-based order.\u201d<\/p>\n

__<\/p>\n

Lee reported from Washington.<\/p>\n

From:AOL<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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