UPDATE: US’ Blinken meets China’s top diplomat in Munich

ADDS CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY STATEMENT

By Ayhan Simsek and Gozde Bayar

MUNICH/ANKARA (AA) - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met China’s top diplomat Wang Yi on Saturday on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

The meeting marked the first face-to-face between senior officials of the two countries following the downing of an alleged Chinese spy balloon by the US.

“Just met with the PRC’s (People's Republic of China) top diplomat, Wang Yi,” Blinken wrote on Twitter. “I condemned the incursion of the PRC surveillance balloon and stressed it must never happen again.”

Blinken said he warned China against providing materiel support to Russia, referring to the war in Ukraine.

“I also emphasized the importance of keeping open lines of communication,” he said.

Earlier Saturday, Wang told the Conference that the downed balloon was civilian and veered off course and entered the US due to westerly winds.

“We asked the US to handle it calmly and professionally based on consultation with the Chinese side,” he said.

“Regrettably, the US disregards these facts and uses advanced fighter jets, and downed a balloon with its missiles. This is, I would say, absurd and hysterical,” he added.

Wang called the US reaction to the balloon incident "absurd and hysterical" in remarks at the Conference, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

"We asked the U.S. to handle the issue in a calm and professional manner but unfortunately the U.S. disregarded the facts and used fighter jets to intercept the balloon," said Wang.

"Are we going to start downing balloons from different countries all over the world? This incident doesn't show American strength but the opposite," he added.