US, China spar in first meeting under Biden
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Top U.S. and Chinese officials wrapped up two days of contentious talks in Alaska on Friday after having traded sharp and unusually public barbs over vastly different views of each other and the world in their first face-to-face meeting since President Joe Biden took office.
The sides finished the meetings after an opening session on Thursday in which they attacked each other. The U.S. accused the Chinese delegation of “grandstanding” and Beijing fired back, saying there was a “strong smell of gunpowder and drama” that was entirely the fault of the Americans.
“We got a defensive response,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said after the meetings concluded. “We wanted to share with them the significant concerns that we have about a number of the actions that China has taken, and behaviors exhibiting concerns, shared by our allies and partners. And we did that. We also wanted to lay out very clearly, our own policies, priorities, and worldview. And we did that too.”
“There are a number of areas where we are fundamentally at odds,” he said. “It’s no surprise that when we raised issues we got a defensive response, but also we had a very candid conversation and a expansive agenda.”
In separate comments, Chinese Communist Party foreign affairs chief Yang Jiechi said dialogue was the only way to resolve differences.
But he also made clear that Beijing had no intention of backing down on any issue.
“China is going to safeguard our national sovereignty, security and our interests to develop China,” he said. “It is an irreversible trend,” he said.
“We hope the United States is not going to underestimate China’s determination to defend its territory, safeguard its people and defend its righteous interests,” he said.
As they opened the talks, Blinken said the Biden administration is united with its allies in pushing back against Chinese authoritarianism. In response, Chinese Communist Party foreign affairs chief Yang Jiechi accused Washington of hypocrisy on human rights and other issues.
The meetings in Anchorage were a new test in increasingly troubled relations between the countries, which are at odds over a range of issues from trade to human rights in Tibet, Hong Kong and China’s western Xinjiang region, as well as over Taiwan, China’s assertiveness in the South China Sea and the coronavirus pandemic.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan amplified the criticism, saying China has undertaken an “assault on basic values.”
“We do not seek conflict but we welcome stiff competition,” he said.
Yang responded angrily by demanding the U.S. stop pushing its own version of democracy at a time when the United States itself has been roiled by domestic discontent. He also accused the U.S. of failing to deal with its own human rights problems and took issue with what he said was “condescension” from Blinken, Sullivan and other U.S. officials.
“We believe that it is important for the United States to change its own image and to stop advancing its own democracy in the rest of the world,” Yang said. “Many people within the United States actually have little confidence in the democracy of the United States.”
“China will not accept unwarranted accusations from the U.S. side,” he said, adding that recent developments had plunged relations “into a period of unprecedented difficulty” that “has damaged the interests of our two peoples.”
“There is no way to strangle China,” he said.
Blinken appeared to be annoyed by the tenor and length of the comments, which went on for more than 15 minutes.
“I’m hearing deep satisfaction that the United States is back, that we’re reengaged,” Blinken said. “I’m also hearing deep concern about some of the actions your government is taking.”