Talks fail to clear air in balloon row

The United States has been warned it must "bear all the consequences" if it escalates the controversy over a Chinese balloon the American military shot down.

Beijing will "follow through to the end" if "the US insists on taking advantage of the issue," read a statement from the Foreign Ministry that followed a meeting between top diplomat Wang Yi and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

Blinken warned China not to repeat its "irresponsible act" of sending a spy balloon over America as he held rare talks with Wang.

The United States has been in a state of alarm since a huge white balloon from China was spotted over nuclear weapons sites before being shot down off the US east coast on February 4.

Beijing denies it uses spy balloons and says the craft was for weather research. It then accused Washington of sending its own spy balloons over Chinese territory, which Washington denied.

During the encounter on Saturday Blinken "made clear the United States will not stand for any violation of our sovereignty," a State Department official said.

He also warned Wang "about the implications and consequences if China provides material support to Russia or assistance with systemic sanctions evasion."

In turn, Wang told Blinken their relationship had been damaged by how Washington reacted to the balloon and "urged the US side to change course, acknowledge and repair the damage its excessive use of force caused to China-US relations."

Speaking earlier in Munich, Wang condemned the US reaction to the balloon as "hysterical and absurd."

Wang also said President Joe Biden's administration had a "misguided" perception of Beijing.

"There are many balloons from many countries in the sky," he added. "Do you want to down each and every one of them?"

ShiYinhong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University, said China and the United States both hoped to avoid their competition and confrontation worsening by holding more and higher-level meetings.

But at the same time, Shi added, both are now only doing what is necessary to maintain strategic safety.