MUNICH: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi of consequences.

After the two met saying in an interview that Washington was concerned Beijing was considering supplying weapons to Moscow.

The top diplomats of the two superpowers met at an undisclosed location on the sidelines of a global security conference in Munich, just hours after Wang scolded Washington as “hysterical” in a running dispute over the US downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon.

Relations between the two countries have been fraught since Washington said China flew a spy balloon over the continental US before American fighter jets shot it down on President Joe Biden’s orders.

The dispute also came at a time when the West is closely watching Beijing’s response to the Ukraine war.

In an interview to be aired on Sunday morning on NBC News’ “Meet the Press with Chuck Todd,” Blinken said the United States was very concerned that China is considering providing lethal support to Russia and that he made clear to Wang that it “would have serious consequences in our relationship.”

“There are various kinds of lethal assistance that they are at least contemplating providing, to include weapons,” Blinken said, adding that Washington would soon informed more details.

Earlier, speaking at a panel at the conference, Wang reiterated a call for dialogue and suggested European countries “think calmly” about how to end the war.

He also said there were “some forces that seemingly don’t want negotiations to succeed, or for the war to end soon,” without specifying to whom he was referring.
Blinken and Wang’s meeting came hours after the top Chinese diplomat took a swipe at the United States, accusing it of violating international norms with “hysterical” behaviour by shooting down the balloon.

The balloon’s flight this month over US territory triggered an uproar in Washington and prompted Blinken to postpone a planned visit to Beijing. That February 5-6 trip would have been the first by a US secretary of state to China in five years and was seen by both sides as an opportunity to stabilise increasingly fraught ties.

“To have dispatched an advanced fighter jet to shoot down a balloon with a missile, such behaviour is unbelievable, almost hysterical,” Wang said.

“There are so many balloons all over the world, and various countries have them. So, is the United States going to shoot all of them down?” he said.

China reacted angrily when the US military downed the 200-foot (60-meter) balloon on February 4, saying it was for monitoring weather conditions and had blown off course. Washington said it was a surveillance balloon with a massive undercarriage holding electronics.

Questions had swirled as to whether Blinken and Wang would use the conference in Munich as a chance to reengage in person, and the State Department only confirmed the hour-long meeting after it had ended.

In the interview with NBC, Blinken said Wang did not apologise for the balloon’s flight.

“I told him quite simply that was unacceptable and can never happen again,” Blinken said, referring to the balloon’s violation of US air space.

“There was no apology,” he said, adding that he had not discussed Wang rescheduling his trip to China.