China warns that US will suffer ‘consequences’ if it escalates spy balloon incident

Beijing: China warned the United States on Sunday it would "bear all the consequences" if it escalated the controversy over a Chinese balloon that the U.S. military shot down this month. 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. A U.S. military jet on Feb. 4 shot down what Washington calls a Chinese spy balloon after it had crossed North America. Beijing says it was an errant weather-monitoring craft. China's statement followed a meeting between top diplomat Wang Yi and U.S. Secretary…