Top US, China diplomats meet amid tensions over balloon
By KARL RITTER and MATTHEW LEE
Associated Press
MUNICH (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has met with China’s top diplomat in the first high-level contact between the two countries since the U.S. shot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon two weeks ago. The talks between Blinken and Wang Yi, the Chinese Communist Party’s most senior foreign policy official, took place in Munich, where they are attending an international security conference. Details of the meeting aren’t immediately available, but a senior State Department official confirms they had met. Blinken had canceled a trip to Beijing earlier this month due to the balloon incident, which has become a major issue of contention between the two countries.
