18 (EUROPA PRESS)
The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, held a face-to-face meeting this Saturday in Munich with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, in the first in-person meeting between the top diplomatic officials of the two countries since the crisis opened by the shooting down over US soil of an alleged spy balloon from Beijing.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, according to a State Department spokesman in comments to Bloomberg.
Pending China’s response, the US State Department has described a tense meeting in which Blinken denounced the balloon flight as an “unacceptable violation of United States sovereignty and international law,” according to the spokesman for the Department, Ned Price.
Blinken stressed to his counterpart “that this irresponsible act must never happen again.” “The Secretary made it clear that the United States will not tolerate any violation of our sovereignty,” Price added.
This meeting took place the same day that Wang lashed out at the US in his appearance before the international forum, in which he described the decision to bring down the balloon adopted by US President Joe Biden as an “incomprehensible and almost hysterical” act.
The downing of the balloon also occurred on the eve of a planned visit by Blinken to Beijing, suspended due to the crisis. Those responsible for the department ensure that the trip is still on and a new date will be given when the conditions are adequate.
