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

China’s senior foreign minister offered “no apology” in his meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken for the spy balloon that floated over the U.S., Blinken said in an interview Saturday on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”

“There was no apology,” Blinken said of his conversation with Wang Yi, director of the People’s Republic of China CCP Central Foreign Affairs office. “But what I can also tell you is this was an opportunity to speak very clearly and very directly about the fact that China sent a surveillance balloon over our territory, violating our sovereignty, violating international law.”

“And I told him quite simply that that was unacceptable and can never happen again,” Blinken said.

Blinken met with Wang on Saturday on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany prior to the interview.

In the interview, he also voiced concern that China is aiding the Russians in their war in Ukraine. NBC News exclusively reported Saturday that U.S. officials believe China may be providing Russia nonlethal military assistance.

“We are very concerned that China’s considering providing lethal support to Russia in its aggression against Ukraine,” Blinken said, “and I made clear that that would have serious consequences in our relationship, as well something that President [Joe] Biden has shared directly with President Xi [Jinping] on several occasions.”

Finally, Blinken said he told Wang that there should be open lines of communication between China and the U.S: “This is something that the world expects of us — they expect us to manage this relationship responsibly, and so it was important that we had that opportunity this evening here in Munich.”

Blinken said the U.S. isn’t the only nation that has been subject to Chinese spy balloons. “More than forty countries have had these balloons fly over them in recent years, and that’s been exposed to the world,” Blinken said.

Diplomatic tensions between the U.S. and China have increased since the U.S. shot down what it says was a spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina. China has insisted the balloon was not intended for surveillance.

The balloon, which floated above U.S. for eight days, included “multiple antennas” capable of collecting signals intelligence and the balloon maker has proven ties to the Chinese military, NBC News previously reported, according to a senior State Department official.

The U.S. has not heard any credible explanation and firmly stands by its assessment that it was a surveillance balloon, a senior State Department official said Saturday.