Diplomatic but not military channels remain open currently between the United States and China, the White House said.
The Chinese spy balloon that traversed across the continental United States before the U.S. military shot it down off the coast of South Carolina was the latest incident between the two adversarial nations. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled his trip to China in the aftermath of the balloon situation.
"I recognize that there are tensions but Secretary Blinken still has an open line of communication with the foreign minister," he explained."We still have an embassy in Beijing with a terrific ambassador, Nick Burns, and the State Department also can communicate directly with the PRC Embassy personnel here, so the lines are open. Unfortunately, the military lines aren't open. And that's really what we would like to see amended.
The Pentagon reached out to its Chinese counterparts to set up a call between Austin and PRC Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe the day the balloon was shot down, but Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement days later that"the PRC has declined our request." Earlier this week, Austin said China shuts down military channels"when something happens," in an interview with NBC News, while he described the tendency as"dangerous.""When something happens, they somehow tend to shut down their military channels of communication," Austin said."I think that's dangerous, but it won't stop me from continuing to encourage them to open up the lines of communication. I think that's the right thing to do.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters on Thursday that the U.S."should not have overreacted," and Chinese officials have accused the U.S. of flying similar balloons into Chinese airspace, a claim that Kirby unequivocally denied.
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