BEIJING—Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the spy balloon incident with China "should be closed" in an interview with MSNBC posted online on Tuesday.

"We did what we needed to do to protect our interests, we said what we needed to say and made clear what needed to make clear in terms of this not happening again. So as long as it doesn't, that chapter should be closed," Blinken said in the video interview with MSNBC.

The Chinese spy balloon traversed the continental United States in January, collecting sensitive data from military sites. The Biden administration did not order the balloon shot down until it reached the Atlantic Ocean on Feb. 4.

(Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Andrew Heavens)