The media pointed to the growing tension between the US and China after the meeting between Blinken and Wang Yi

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The meeting between the head of the US State Department, Anthony Blinken, and the head of the office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC Central Committee), Wang Yi, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference exacerbated tensions between the US and China. The agency wrote about it Bloomberg on Monday, February 20th.

The authors of the material noted that the meeting between the American and Chinese high-ranking diplomats showed how difficult it would be for the two countries to find a compromise.

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Chinese State Councilor Wang Yi exchanged barbs about everything from the balloon and Taiwan to North Korea and possible arms sales to Russia during their meeting at the Munich Conference.

All this emphasizes, according to the authors of the material, that, despite all the statements of US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping about their desire to strengthen ties, neither side seems to be able to do so.

During the meeting, Wang Yi told Blinken about the return of the “Cold War mentality” to international rhetoric, after which the US Secretary of State hastened to assure that Washington “is not looking for a new Cold War.”

This “uneven meeting in terms of mood and topics, as well as the harsh rhetoric around it, showed how damaged relations between the United States and China are, and how both sides are ready to argue even over trifles,” the authors of the article noted.

They also pointed out that in the report of the conversation, China refused to even call it an official meeting. The meeting was called “informal contact” and stated that it took place only at the request of the United States of America.

On the eve of February 19, Wang Yi, during a meeting with the US Secretary of State, said that China would never put up with US pressure and threats against Russian-Chinese relations.

The day before, Blinken said that the United States was concerned about possible assistance from China to Russia in the conduct of hostilities in Ukraine. On the same day, he warned China of the consequences if it provided material assistance to Russia in a special military operation.

At the same time, Wang Yi said that the actions of the US authorities in the situation with the Chinese balloon “are close to hysteria” and are “abuse of force.” According to him, this incident “led to turmoil in Sino-US relations.” The politician also pointed out that the United States behaved this way because the White House has long considered China as a rival country, constantly trying to denigrate its image, and also calls it a “serious geopolitical challenge.”

On the night of February 3, a huge balloon was seen in the sky over American territory. The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed that the balloon flew from China, but stressed that it was a civilian apparatus for scientific research, which ended up there unintentionally.

The next day it became known that the object was shot down off the east coast of the country on the orders of US President Joe Biden. After that, on February 5, in connection with the incident, a serious presentation was made by Beijing to Washington. The Chinese Foreign Ministry also said the incident damaged relations between the two countries.

In connection with the incident, Blinken had to cancel his earlier planned visit to Beijing.

Following this, on February 14, White House National Security Council strategic communications coordinator John Kirby emphasized that Washington does not seek conflict with Beijing in the wake of the downed balloon incident. He noted that the United States intends to keep channels of communication with China open.

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