US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met with China's first diplomat Wang I on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. It is reported by CNN with reference to the speaker of the State Department.

According to Ned Price, Blinken and Wang I discussed the downing of the Chinese meteorological probe by the US, the conflict in Ukraine, the North Korean missile launch, Taiwan, as well as bilateral contacts..

The meeting marked the first face-to-face meeting between senior US and Chinese officials since the US shot down a Chinese observation balloon off the coast of South Carolina earlier this month..

Washington accuses China of running an extensive international surveillance program. Meanwhile, Beijing has denied these claims and has in turn accused the US of flying balloons over its airspace.. China claims its balloon, which U.S. forces identified and then shot down earlier this month, was a research aircraft accidentally strayed off course..

During a speech at the Munich Conference on Saturday, Wang criticized the United States' handling of the incident, calling the response "

“Sending a modern fighter jet to shoot down a balloon with a missile is unbelievable, almost hysterical,” Wang said..

[see_also ids\u003d"

The incident also negatively impacted opportunities for the US and China to stabilize relations.. In early February, Blinken postponed an expected visit to Beijing after a hot air balloon attracted media and public attention..

The visit was to be the first visit by a U.S. Secretary of State to China since 2018 since U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping had a relatively friendly face-to-face meeting at the Group of 20 summit in November..