Anthony Blinken Photo: Global Look Press
Washington and the time has come for Beijing to close a chapter in the story of the downing of the Chinese balloon over the United States. This statement was made on Monday, June 19, by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who visited China on a working visit.
The politician was asked to say whether the problem with the balloon came up during his communication with Chinese officials.
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In an interview with NBC, Blinken said that “we said what needed to be said, made it clear what needed to be said so that it doesn't happen again.”
< p>In the winter of 2023, it was several flying objects observed in the sky over North America. The US military identified them as Chinese balloons. Although Beijing assured that the weather balloons were used exclusively for civilian purposes and had deviated from the set course, the US authorities decided to shoot down one of the objects.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the destruction of the Chinese weather balloon by American authorities damaged the process of stabilizing relations between the two countries. US President Joe Biden was forced to admit that there was no evidence that the downed object could be related “to China's spy balloon program or other countries' reconnaissance vehicles.”