The Pentagon says China declined a phone call in response to the balloon's downing

https://www.npr.org/2023/02/07/ [login to see] /pentagon-says-china-rebuffed-request-for-a-phone-call-after-balloon-shoot-down
The Pentagon says China declined a request for a secure call ​between Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart, Wei Fenghe, after the U.S. shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon.

Beijing has said the balloon was a wayward "civilian airship" used for meteorology and other scientific purposes, and the decision to shoot it out of the sky was an "overreaction." China lodged a formal complaint with the U.S. embassy in Beijing on Monday.

The U.S. refutes the Chinese explanation, saying the balloon was attempting to surveil strategic sites as it drifted across the continental United States making headlines last week.