Balloon bursts hopes for end to spiraling US-China tensions

By MATTHEW LEE
AP Diplomatic Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Monday was supposed to be a day of modest hope in the U.S.-China relationship. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was going to be in Beijing, meeting with President Xi Jinping and other senior Chinese officials in a high-stakes bid to ease ever-rising tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Instead, Blinken was spending the day in Washington after abruptly cancelling his visit late last week as the U.S. and China exchanged angry words about a suspected Chinese spy balloon the U.S. shot down. As fraught as the US-China relationship had been before, it’s worse now. Even as both sides maintain they will manage the situation in a calm and professional manner, the mutual recriminations bode ill for rapprochement.