US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will not make an official visit to China until it demonstrates that it is a “responsible country,” the US government said on Tuesday.
The chief of US diplomacy postponed an official visit to China last week after the United States reportedly spied on a Chinese balloon, which Beijing said had only meteorological purposes and had deviated from its original route.
“I’m not going to talk about the terms of this meeting, but we believe it depends on China’s ability to demonstrate whether it is a responsible country”said Blinken spokesman Ned Price at a news conference Tuesday.
According to Ned Price, Antony Blinken’s trip “should be a follow-up” to the November meeting between US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.
On Tuesday, the United States government said it would be available to “maintain lines of communication with China” regarding Beijing’s alleged use of spy balloons.
Last week, the United States shot down a Chinese balloon, allegedly a spy, which Beijing said was for meteorological purposes only and strayed from its original route.
Since that incident, three other flying objects have been neutralized by the United States.
For its part, Beijing said American balloons had flown over the People’s Republic of China more than a dozen times by 2022, but the accusation was refuted.
Source: DN
