Wang Yi met with European Union High Representative for Foreign Policy Josep Borrell on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement released today.

The head of Chinese diplomacy told Borrell that Beijing and Brussels should be “partners and not rivals” and that “consensus far outweighs differences”.

“We should respect each other’s core interests and enjoy the fruits of cooperation. China has successfully overcome the pandemic and is ready to fully restart exchanges with Europe and the rest of the world,” Wang said.

The official suggested that the two sides are “actively” preparing for a new China-EU leaders’ summit, with the aim of “bringing bilateral exchanges back to pre-pandemic levels”.

“The essence of economic and trade relations between China and the European Union is complementary and mutually beneficial. Both sides should maintain openness and cooperation,” he said.

While in Munich, Wang sought to bring Europe closer to China, harshly criticizing the US and calling Washington’s decision to shoot down the alleged balloon in early February “absurd and hysterical”. Chinese spy flying over North American territory. .

Wang reiterated on Saturday that the balloon had no crew, was a civilian aircraft and could not be controlled remotely.

The balloon was located in late January in North American airspace and was shot down over Atlantic waters on February 4. A few days earlier, it had flown over several regions of the United States, such as the state of Montana (northwest of the country), where one of the three nuclear missile silo fields in the United States is located.

During a debate in Munich, Wang revealed that “there are countless balloons in the world and it is impossible to shoot them all down” and felt that the decision to shoot the device “does not show the strength of the United States, on the contrary”.

Wang called the US decision to shoot down the Chinese balloon a “strategic misjudgement” and reiterated that Beijing wants to maintain bilateral relations with the United States based on “mutual respect and peaceful coexistence”.

Beijing has insisted in recent days that the balloon entered US airspace by mistakenly deviating from its path, reiterating that the balloon was used for meteorological purposes and not for espionage.

In addition to this balloon, the United States last week shot down three other flying objects on its territory and in Canada, the origin of which is under investigation by the American and Canadian authorities.

The discovery of the “spy balloons” reignited bilateral tensions and led to the suspension of a trip to China that Secretary of State Antony Blinken had planned to make.