China offers 'no apology' in first meeting after spy balloon incident, Blinken says

China's elder overseas curate offered "no apology" in his gathering with Secretary of State Antony Blinken for the spy balloon that floated implicit the U.S., Blinken said successful an interrogation Saturday connected NBC News' "Meet the Press."

"There was nary apology," Blinken said of his speech with Wang Yi, manager of the People's Republic of China CCP Central Foreign Affairs office. "But what I tin besides archer you is this was an accidental to talk precise intelligibly and precise straight astir the information that China sent a surveillance balloon implicit our territory, violating our sovereignty, violating planetary law."

"And I told him rather simply that that was unacceptable and tin ne'er hap again," Blinken said.

Blinken met with Wang connected Saturday connected the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference successful Germany anterior to the interview.

In the interview, helium besides voiced interest that China is aiding the Russians successful their warfare successful Ukraine. NBC News exclusively reported Saturday that U.S. officials judge China whitethorn beryllium providing Russia nonlethal subject assistance.

"We are precise acrophobic that China's considering providing lethal enactment to Russia successful its aggression against Ukraine," Blinken said, "and I made wide that that would person superior consequences successful our relationship, arsenic good thing that President [Joe] Biden has shared straight with President Xi [Jinping] connected respective occasions."

Finally, Blinken said helium told Wang that determination should beryllium unfastened lines of connection betwixt China and the U.S: "This is thing that the satellite expects of america — they expect america to negociate this narration responsibly, and truthful it was important that we had that accidental this evening present successful Munich."

Blinken said the U.S. isn't the lone federation that has been taxable to Chinese spy balloons. "More than forty countries person had these balloons alert implicit them successful caller years, and that's been exposed to the world," Blinken said.

Diplomatic tensions betwixt the U.S. and China person accrued since the U.S. changeable down what it says was a spy balloon disconnected the seashore of South Carolina. China has insisted the balloon was not intended for surveillance.

The balloon, which floated supra U.S. for 8 days, included "multiple antennas" susceptible of collecting signals quality and the balloon shaper has proven ties to the Chinese military, NBC News antecedently reported, according to a elder State Department official.

The U.S. has not heard immoderate credible mentation and firmly stands by its appraisal that it was a surveillance balloon, a elder State Department authoritative said Saturday.