Secretary of State Antony Blinken did not receive an apology from China for sending a surveillance balloon into United States airspace while at a diplomatic meeting in Munich.
Blinken said in an interview with Chuck Todd on NBC News's Meet the Press that the meeting was an opportunity to emphasize the U.S.'s stance on national security after a Chinese surveillance balloon that hovered over the nation for several days was shot down earlier this month."No, there was no apology," Blinken said of Wang Li, China’s top diplomat.
"What is clear is that, once the balloon was over the United States and flying basically west to east, it attempted to surveil very sensitive military sites," Blinken said."In some cases, it loitered or returned to them as it progressed east. So, there's no doubt in our minds at all." Three more objects have been shot down since the surveillance balloon was taken down on Feb. 4, but defense officials say they do not appear to be part of the Chinese surveillance program. Blinken said he did not think the U.S. overreacted in shooting down the three objects.
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