Senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi on Saturday made clear China's solemn position on the so-called airship incident in an informal conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Wang, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, met with Blinken on the sidelines of the ongoing 59th Munich Security Conference (MSC) at the request of the U.S. side.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, urged the U.S. side to change course, acknowledge and repair the damage its excessive use of force in dealing with the incident has caused to China-U.S. relations, according to a brief read-out of the meeting released by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Earlier this month, an unmanned Chinese civilian airship, affected by the Westerlies and due to its limited self-steering capability, deviated from its planned course and entered the U.S. airspace. Despite China's calls for the issue to be handled in a rational and professional manner, the U.S. shot down the airship with a missile.

Citing the incident, Blinken earlier announced the postponement of what the U.S. side called a planned early February visit to China.

When answering questions on China-U.S. relations at a China session of the MSC on Saturday, Wang said the underlying reason behind the unexpected incident causing such a stir in bilateral relations is Washington's wrong perception and strategic misjudgment of China.

(With input from Xinhua)