United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi met in the first face-to-face between senior US and Chinese officials since the US military shot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon.
They met on the margins of the Munich Security Conference on February 18, 2023.
Blinken condemned the violation of US airspace by the alleged Chinese spying balloon calling it an “unacceptable violation of US sovereignty and international law” and said incidents like the balloon, which hovered over US airspace for days before the US shot it down off the coast of South Carolina, “must never occur again,” stated Ned Price, the spokesman of the State Department.
The US Secretary of State also warned Beijing against the provision of “lethal aid” for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He warned Wang of “the implications and consequences if China provides material support to Russia or assistance with systemic sanctions evasion,” Price said.
According to China’s state-run news outlet, Wang and Blinken met at the request of the United States. During the meeting, Wang conveyed China’s “solemn position” and urged the U.S. to rectify the damage caused to the bilateral relationship due to its “abuse of force.” Wang called for a change in course in order to improve the relationship between the two countries.
This visit would have marked the first time a US Secretary of State had visited China since 2018. It comes after a relatively friendly meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the Group of 20 summit in November last year.
The relationship between the two nations has been tense since the US claimed that China had flown a spy balloon over their territory, which resulted in US fighter jets shooting it down under President Joe Biden’s orders. This conflict occurred amidst the West’s scrutiny of Beijing’s reaction to the ongoing Ukraine war.
In February of last year, Russia and China entered into a partnership with “no limits,” which was soon followed by Russian forces invading Ukraine. As Moscow’s ties with the West have weakened, the economic connections between Russia and China have flourished.