Top US, China diplomats weigh first meeting since balloon drama

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is considering meeting top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi at the Munich Security Conference starting this week, in what would be their first face-to-face talks after the US shot down what it said was a Chinese spy balloon and other flying objects, sources said.

Earlier this month, Blinken postponed a planned trip to Beijing due to what he called an unacceptable violation of US sovereignty and airspace by a Chinese surveillance balloon later downed off the coast of South Carolina on Feb 4. The US military says it has since shot down another three unidentified objects flying over North America.

The balloon's intrusion into US airspace caused outrage in Washington, with politicians criticising the military and President Joe Biden for failing to shoot it down when it first appeared.

But it has also raised questions about when the two countries, both eager to inject stability into turbulent relations, might next conduct high-level meetings.

One US official told Reuters on condition of anonymity that a meeting between Blinken and Wang was possible at the Munich conference, which runs from Feb 17 to 19. A second source also said it was possible but that nothing had been confirmed.

Officials and analysts say the March G-20 Foreign Ministers meeting in India would be another opportunity, since both Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang are expected there.

At a news conference with her Japanese and South Korean counterparts, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said she had nothing to announce about a potential Blinken-Wang Yi meeting in Munich but did not rule it out.

"As Secretary Blinken has said consistently, and as he has said to Wang Yi – as have all said to the PRC – we are open to dialogue when it is in our interest to do so and we believe the conditions are right," she said referring to the People's Republic of China.

"I know there's been a report about a potential meeting in Munich, but I have nothing to announce today."

State Department spokesman Ned Price told a regular news briefing Washington was "always assessing options for diplomacy."

"I'll have to let the PRC speak to Wang Yi's potential travel. We'll have an opportunity to speak to Secretary Blinken's potential travel, but I can tell you at the moment there's no meeting on the books between Secretary Blinken and a senior PRC official," he said.

China's Washington embassy referred to a Chinese foreign ministry briefing at which Wang's plan to attend the Munich conference was announced but no mention was made of any plan to meet Blinken.

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan noted last week that Blinken had postponed his visit to China, not cancelled it or sworn off future high-level communication with China.

China's has reacted angrily to Washington's spying allegations, saying the balloon was a civilian research craft and accusing Washington of hypocrisy. It said on Monday US high-altitude balloons had flown over its airspace without permission more than 10 times since the start of 2022, something the White House denied.

Daniel Russel, the top US diplomat for East Asia under former president Barack Obama, called Munich "an obvious venue for a badly-needed in-person senior-level discussion."

"No doubt the two sides are quietly exploring this," he said. "But neither side wants to handle scheduling in the glare of media attention, and both sides are dealing with the uncertainty of balloon-related drama."