U.S. officials privately expect Secretary of State Antony Blinken to use a potential meeting with China's top diplomat this week to de-escalate tensions over the downing of a Chinese government spy balloon this month.
Driving the news: The State Department on Wednesday formally announced Blinken's plan to attend the Munich Security Conference, giving him an opportunity to re-establish high-level communications by sitting down face-to-face with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi.
