US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says China did not apologise for its balloon incursion during a meeting with counterpart Wang Yi, during which Mr Blinken warned of consequences should Beijing provide material support to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Key points:
- Mr Blinken and Mr Wang met at an undisclosed location on the sidelines of a global security conference in Munich
- Mr Blinken told NBC News that the US was very concerned that China was considering providing lethal support to Russia
- He said Mr Wang did not offer an apology for a Chinese balloon violating US air space earlier this month
The top diplomats of the two superpowers met at an undisclosed location on the sidelines of a global security conference in Munich, just hours after Mr Wang scolded Washington as "hysterical" as part of the running dispute over the US downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon.
Relations between the two countries have been fraught since Washington said China flew a spy balloon over the US and American fighter jets shot it down on President Joe Biden's orders.
The dispute came come at a time when the West was already closely watching Beijing's response to the Ukraine war.
In an interview to be aired on Sunday morning on NBC News' Meet the Press with Chuck Todd, Mr Blinken said the United States was very concerned China was considering providing lethal support to Russia and he it made clear to Mr Wang that "would have serious consequences in our relationship".
"There are various kinds of lethal assistance that they are at least contemplating providing … [including] weapons," Mr Blinken said, adding that Washington would release more details soon.
According to a brief statement on Sunday by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Wang told Mr Blinken the United States must "face up to and resolve the damage" to bilateral relations "caused by the indiscriminate use of force [against the Chinese balloon]".
Blinken gives Wang 'blunt warning'
Speaking to reporters in a briefing call, a senior State Department official said China was trying to "have it both ways" by claiming it wanted to contribute to peace and stability but at the same time taking "concerning" steps to support Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Blinken "was quite blunt in warning about the implications and consequences of China providing material support to Russia or assisting Russia with systematic sanctions evasion", the senior official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Russia and China signed a "no-limits" partnership last February shortly before Russian forces invaded Ukraine. Their economic links have boomed as Moscow's connections with the West have shrivelled.
The West has been wary of China's response to the Ukraine war, with some warning a Russian victory would colour China's actions toward Taiwan. China has refrained from condemning the war or calling it an "invasion".
Earlier, speaking at a panel at the conference, Mr Wang reiterated a call for dialogue and suggested European countries "think calmly" about how to end the war.
He also said there were "some forces that seemingly don't want negotiations to succeed, or for the war to end soon", without specifying who he was referring to.
No apology from China over balloon
Mr Blinken and Mr Wang's meeting came hours after the top Chinese diplomat took a swipe at the United States, accusing it of violating international norms with "hysterical" behaviour by shooting down the balloon.
The balloon's flight over US territory this month triggered an uproar in Washington and prompted Mr Blinken to postpone a planned visit to Beijing.
That February 5-6 trip would have been the first by a US secretary of state to China in five years and the planned visit was seen by both sides as an opportunity to stabilise increasingly fraught ties.
"To have dispatched an advanced fighter jet to shoot down a balloon with a missile, such behaviour is unbelievable, almost hysterical," Mr Wang said.
"There are so many balloons all over the world, and various countries have them. So is the United States going to shoot all of them down?" he said.
China reacted angrily when the US military downed the 60-metre balloon on February 4, saying it was for monitoring weather conditions and had blown off course.
Washington said it was clearly a surveillance balloon with a massive undercarriage holding electronics.
Questions had swirled as to whether Mr Blinken and Mr Wang would use the conference in Munich as a chance to re-engage in-person, and the State Department only confirmed the hour-long meeting after it had ended.
In the interview with NBC, Mr Blinken said Mr Wang did not apologise for the balloon's flight.
"I told him quite simply that that was unacceptable and can never happen again," Mr Blinken said, referring to the balloon's violation of US air space.
"There was no apology," he said, adding that he had not discussed with Mr Wang rescheduling his trip to China.
Washington had been hoping to put a "floor" under relations that hit a dangerous low in August when then-US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan.
But Craig Singleton, a China expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, said while Mr Wang's comments at the conference were likely aimed at deflecting embarrassment over the balloon incident, the lack of a strong response from Washington "increases China's appetite for risk in future disputes".
"Blinken and Wang's meeting will not change the downward trajectory in the US-China relationship. It's clear there is almost no trust between the two sides," Mr Singleton said.
Reuters