Munich Security Conference｜Wang Yi met with Blinken, the two sides exchanged harsh words and left room for each other

On February 18 local time, Wang Yi and Blinken had an informal meeting while attending the Munich Security Conference.

This is the highest level of contact between China and the United States after the balloon incident. According to the press release, in order to take care of their respective domestic sentiments, both sides are speaking harshly and taking sharply opposing positions. They have not yet emerged from the shadow of the balloon incident. At the same time, they do not want bilateral relations to hit the rocks and sink. .

The Chinese press release first clearly stated the active and passive relationship. The meeting was held "at the request of the US side." Second, it explained the nature of the meeting, which was an "informal contact." China’s solemn position requires the U.S. to change course, face up to and address the damage caused by the indiscriminate use of force to Sino-U.S. relations.”

This statement is completely consistent with Wang Yi's public statement on the incident at the Munich Security Conference, and is also consistent with the attitude of the Chinese government after the incident.

On the same day, Wang Yi answered questions on Sino-US relations after delivering a keynote speech at the Munich Security Conference in Germany. He said that everyone is very concerned about the recent so-called unmanned airship incident in Sino-US relations. This is actually a political farce created by the United States.

He pointed out that the Chinese side has clearly and clearly told the US side that this is a civilian unmanned airship, which was affected by the super westerly winds and its own control capabilities were limited, so it deviated from the planned track and entered the sky over the US.

We ask the US side to work with China to handle it properly in a rational, calm and professional manner.

Wang Yi said, it is regrettable that the United States ignored the basic facts and brazenly dispatched fighter planes to shoot down a non-threatening airship with missiles.

He believes that this behavior is unthinkable, almost hysterical, 100% excessive use of force, and a clear violation of conventions and relevant international conventions.

China will never accept this and has lodged a strong protest with the US.

There are many balloons floating above the earth every day. Is the United States going to shoot them down?

This approach does not prove the strength of the United States, but on the contrary.

We advise the United States not to do such absurd things in its foreign dealings out of domestic political needs.

We ask the United States to show sincerity, correct its mistakes, face up to and resolve the damage caused to Sino-US relations by the incident.

Wang Yi said that such an accidental incident caused an uproar in Sino-US relations. The underlying reason is the US's misunderstanding and strategic misjudgment of China.

Wang Yi asked the US side to view China's development objectively and fairly, pursue a positive and pragmatic policy toward China, and work with China to push China-US relations back to a healthy and stable track.

This is not only in the interests of the two countries and peoples, but also the common expectation of the international community.

Compared with the Chinese press release which focused on the balloon incident, the official statement by Blinken and the US State Department consisted of three parts: the first sentence was that he "condemned the invasion of China's surveillance balloons" and emphasized to China that "absolutely This cannot happen again."

The second sentence is that he "warned China not to provide material support to Russia".

The third sentence is that he emphasized "the importance of maintaining unimpeded communication channels" with China.

U.S. Secretary of State Blinken.

(Reuters)

The hegemony of the United States is very obvious in the first two sentences. Everyone can see its intention. It is mainly to explain the internal affairs of the United States. It can be said that it is an internal performance.

Especially on the issue of the Russia-Ukraine war, Blinken used the word "warn": "Warning China not to provide material support to Russia", but in the Chinese press release, there was no mention of Russia-Ukraine war at all. Matters related to the war (later, China’s position on the Russia-Ukraine war and the Taiwan Strait issue was added. On these two issues, it made demands and criticized the US’s approach).

The third point of Blinken's statement emphasizes "the importance of maintaining unimpeded communication channels" with China, which should refer to the fact that the US military communicated with the Chinese military through a hotline after the incident, but the Chinese side refused to answer the call.

At the same time, this expression can also be understood as the United States hopes that Sino-US relations can be freed from the impact of the balloon incident and continue to maintain unimpeded communication channels in the future.

It is worth noting that although the Chinese side mainly focused on asking the US to change its course in the draft and did not make any statement on the subsequent development of bilateral relations, there was a paragraph at the end of Wang Yi's official speech: "We ask the US to view China's development objectively and fairly. , pursue a positive and pragmatic policy toward China, and work with China to push Sino-US relations back to a healthy and stable track. This is not only in the interests of the two countries and their peoples, but also the general expectation of the international community.”——China obviously also hopes Sino-US relations can get rid of the impact of this incident and return to a healthy and stable track.

Judging from these statements by China and the United States, although the balloon incident has caused serious damage to bilateral relations and consolidated the hostility and confrontation between the two sides, the United States, which is holding the balloon wreckage, may have some follow-up actions, but the high-level governments of both sides are highly calm and rational. We do not want Sino-US relations to hit the rocks and sink.

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