“I expect to be speaking with President Xi … to get to the bottom of this,” he added, saying the episode underscored the “importance of maintaining open lines of communication” – but did not specify when those talks might take place.
China and the US are also negotiating a meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China’s top diplomat Wang Yi on the sidelines of the 59th Munich Security Conference, Reuters reported, quoting sources.
This comes after Blinken’s first official trip to Beijing from February 5 was postponed at a day’s notice amid reports of a “Chinese spy balloon” flying over US airspace, sparking a diplomatic row that has had a significant impact on already tense bilateral relations.
01:51
China’s top diplomat urges US to ‘avoid misjudgment’ as Blinken trip postponed over balloon issue
Beijing says the balloon was a civilian research vehicle blown off course in a “force majeure” accident.
Both sides have toughened their reactions to the incident, with the US blocking tech exports to six entities linked to China’s suspected “surveillance balloon” programme and Beijing claiming the US had been sending similar balloons over its airspace for years.
Whether Beijing responds positively to the US invitation for talks remains uncertain, but the bilateral relationship needs to move on, observers in China said.
Pang Zhongying, chair professor of international political economy at Sichuan University, said the Munich conference would be a good chance for Wang and Blinken to meet.
If the two do meet, “it would at least give both sides a way out of this incident”, Pang said. “It would indicate that both sides want to repair the damage to the relationship [caused by this saga].
“It is pointless for both sides to see this saga continue to simmer,” he said.
It might also be good for Wang to meet Blinken ahead of his upcoming visit to Russia, Pang noted.
01:53
Russia is ‘launching new offensives’ in Ukraine, says Nato chief
Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine is expected to dominate the three-day global security conference, which opened on Friday. The US has been sceptical of China’s stance on the war, which is approaching its first anniversary next week. Beijing says it wishes to see a peaceful resolution but has not condemned the invasion.
“[A meeting] would be good for avoiding misunderstandings … if [Wang] sees Blinken, at least there could be some further understanding and information acquired before heading to Russia,” Pang said.
Biden in his address sought to ease the furore at home over alleged Chinese aerial spying, reassuring Americans that “nothing right now” suggested the three latest “unidentified aerial objects” shot down by US fighter jets “were related to China’s spy balloon programme”.
He earlier said he did not view the alleged spy balloon’s flight over US airspace as a major security breach, but reiterated he offered “no apologies” for shooting it down.
01:11
China says it has ‘no understanding’ of the flying objects US shot down
Wu Xinbo, head of Fudan University’s Centre for American Studies, said the US needed to give more indication of wanting to resolve the issue.
“China has wanted to deal with this in a low-profile manner from the start, but the incident has been blown out of proportion … Biden looks like he wants to do some damage control on this incident now,” Wu said.
“[But] more needs to be done from the US side. For example, on how the US would handle the remains of the balloon that has been shot down.”
The US claims the “spy balloon” shot down by its military in the Atlantic was part of a global surveillance programme run by China.
The US Congress has also passed resolutions condemning China for sending a surveillance balloon over American airspace, despite China’s insistence that it was a civilian weather-monitoring device that blew off course.
Beijing has since blamed the US for destroying progress made in the Xi-Biden meeting in Bali in November, and also accused Washington of having sent more than 10 balloons over its territory since the beginning of last year.
The fallout from the spat will linger, warned Wu.
“However this incident develops, it shows that we can expect there to be many disturbances to the bilateral relations moving on.”
