Beijing warned Washington - today, Sunday - that it will bear all the consequences if it continues to escalate over the Chinese airship that was shot down by the US military two weeks ago, and which the US Department of Defense (The Pentagon) said was used for espionage purposes and its mission was to collect sensitive information.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said - in a statement - that Beijing will continue to respond to the end if Washington insists on exploiting the issue.

The statement comes a day after US Secretary of State Anthony Yellinken warned his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, during their meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany, against a repeat of the balloon incident, according to what Washington announced yesterday, Saturday.

The US State Department spokesman said that Blinken had told his Chinese counterpart that the balloon incident that was shot down by the US army "should never be repeated," and also warned him of "repercussions and consequences" that would affect China if it was found that it had provided "material support" to Russia in its war on Ukraine.

The meeting between Blinken and Wang was the first between officials from the two countries after the diplomatic crisis sparked by the Chinese airship's flight over American territory and its downing.

Prior to his meeting with his US counterpart in Munich, the Chinese foreign minister criticized the United States, describing the state of high alert Washington declared over the balloon as "incomprehensible and almost hysterical," according to Bloomberg News.

On the fourth of February, an American fighter shot down the Chinese airship over the coast of South Carolina, and parts of it that fell into the sea were later recovered.

While Washington confirmed that the airship was designed for espionage, Beijing denied this and said that the airship was civilian and intended to collect meteorological data, noting that it had deviated from its course due to the weather, and ended up over US soil.