RPT - Nothing To Announce On Potential Meeting Between Blinken, China's Wang Yi - State Dept.

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th February, 2023) US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said on Monday that while she is aware of the reports of a potential meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China's Central Foreign Affairs Office Director Wang Yi in Munich, she has nothing to announce as of now.

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

Blinken is considering meeting with China's Central Foreign Affairs Office Director Wang Yi on the margins of the Munch Security Conference this week, Bloomberg reported on Monday citing people familiar with the matter.

The meeting would take place following the United States downing of a Chinese balloon allegedly conducting surveillance of several sensitive sites in the United States.

In early February, the United States detected and later shot down four unidentified flying objects, including the alleged Chinese surveillance balloon. Washington alleges that the balloon was designed to gather intelligence.

However, Beijing insists that the balloon was a mere meteorological device and entered the US airspace accidentally while expressing protest over the Defense Department's decision to shoot it down.