US Secretary of State Antony Blinken shakes hands with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during their meeting in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on July 9, 2022.
Stefani Reynolds/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
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Stefani Reynolds/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken shakes hands with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during their meeting in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on July 9, 2022.
Stefani Reynolds/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Foreign Minister Antony Blinken and China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, are planning to meet for talks later this week in the highest-level contact between the United States and China since. balloon crisis blew up earlier this month, said a source with knowledge of the matter.
The unnamed source said the meeting will take place in Munich, Germany, where the two are attending a global security conference.
Tensions between China and the United States have increased since the February 4 shooting down of what the Biden administration said was a Chinese surveillance balloon that flew over the continental United States.
Beijing insists the hot air balloon is civilian profession for scientific research, and shooting it down was an overreaction and a violation of international practice.
The incident comes at a time when tensions between Beijing and Washington have been running high – but both sides are starting to take small steps to try to prevent relations from deteriorating further. Blinken was scheduled to visit Beijing on February 5-6, but postponed the trip after the hot air balloon made headlines when it was seen over Montana.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to questions about the meeting.
It is unclear how helpful the meeting between Blinken and Wang will be in stabilizing bilateral relations, as both sides have been clinging to the balloon.
Biden on Thursday said he would speak with Chinese leader Xi Jinping about the incident, but would not apologize for shooting down the balloon.
On Friday, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said the United States cannot seek dialogue while simultaneously taking steps to deepen the crisis, possibly alluding to sanctions. fines imposed by the United States on six Chinese companies in response to the hot air balloon incident.
