Blinken says he failed to revive military-to-military talks with China

cnbc.com:

BEIJING — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday he failed to revive military-to-military talks with China, despite earlier hopes of reopening that communication channel.

Blinken's trip to Beijing over the last two days — the secretary's first under the Biden administration — marked a resumption of high-level U.S.-China government meetings after a tense four-plus months.

Military communication had dropped off during that time.

China's Defense Ministry declined a call with its U.S. counterpart in early February after the discovery of an alleged Chinese spy balloon over U.S. airspace. Both countries' defense heads attended an annual event in Singapore earlier this month, but they did not have a formal meeting.

The balloon incident delayed Blinken's visit to Beijing by more than four months. The secretary arrived Sunday and had meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Director of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Foreign Affairs Office Wang Yi, and State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang.

Blinken told NBC News on Monday that the spy balloon «chapter should be closed.»

He also told reporters Monday that during the meetings, he «repeatedly» raised the need for direct communication between the two countries' militaries.

«I think it's absolutely vital that we have these kinds of communications, military to military,» Blinken said. «That imperative, I think, was only underscored by recent incidents that we saw in the air and on the seas.»

«At this moment, China does not agree to move forward with that,» he said, noting the U.S. would keep working toward restoring those communication channels.

The U.S. shot down the alleged Chinese spy balloon in February. Beijing maintains it was a weather balloon that