[Central News Agency] Senior US State Department officials confirmed that Secretary of State Blinken met with Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission of China, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference today.

The intrusion of a Chinese spy balloon earlier this month has revived rifts between the two sides.

"We can confirm that Secretary of State Antony Blinken concluded talks with ... Wang Yi on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference," a State Department official told Reuters by email, speaking on condition of anonymity.

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Less than two hours earlier, a witness had seen Blinken's motorcade leave the hotel where he was staying and head for an undisclosed location.

Earlier on the same day, Wang Yi strongly criticized the US, saying that its shooting down of the balloon not only violated international norms, but even called it "hysterical".

A Chinese reconnaissance balloon invaded the U.S. airspace at the end of January. The U.S. military, under the order of President Biden, sent fighter planes to shoot it down on February 4. This incident caused Blinken to cancel his planned visit to China. He originally planned to communicate with China. Meeting with President Xi Jinping.

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