China warns U.S. to suffer ‘consequences’ if it escalates balloon incident

• A US military plane shot down what Washington believes was a Chinese spy balloon.
•  Beijing says it was an errant weather-monitoring craft.
• China warned the United States if the issue of the Chinese balloon shots esclate.

BEIJING: China warned the United States on Sunday that it would “bear all the consequences” if the dispute over a Chinese balloon shot down by the US military worsened.

Beijing will “follow through to the end” in the event “the U.S. insists on taking advantage of the issue”, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

On February 4, a US military plane shot down what Washington believes was a Chinese spy balloon after it reached North America. According to Beijing, it was an errant weather-monitoring craft.

China’s statement followed a meeting between top diplomat Wang Yi and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

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