China urges US to help fix ‘spy balloon’ damage to ties, after Biden pledges to talk it over with Xi
- Call from Chinese foreign ministry comes after US President Joe Biden in national address says he expects to be speaking to China’s Xi Jinping
- Meeting between top diplomats Antony Blinken and Wang Yi on Munich Security Conference sidelines would help ‘avoid misunderstandings’, observer notes
“The United States should work with us to manage this incident and bring relations back to a sound and steady track,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Friday when asked to respond to the televised address from Biden.
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US military searches for debris from downed Chinese balloon
“We seek competition, not conflict with China,” Biden said. “We are not looking for a new cold war, but I make no apologies.”
“I expect to be speaking with President Xi … to get to the bottom of this,” he added, saying the episode underscored the “importance of maintaining open lines of communication” – but did not specify when those talks might take place.
This comes after Blinken’s first official trip to Beijing from February 5 was postponed at a day’s notice amid reports of a “Chinese spy balloon” flying over US airspace, sparking a diplomatic row that has had a significant impact on already tense bilateral relations.