Biden team confronts China in sit-down talks
‘Frank’ talk may include genocide, trade blockade
The president’s national security advisers are meeting for the first time in person with Chinese diplomats in a high-stakes showdown that could determine whether the U.S. is headed into a “new Cold War” or a diplomatic thaw. The meeting in Alaska could set the tone for relations for years to come, one expert says.
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden’s top national security advisers arrived in Alaska Thursday for their first face-to-face meeting with Chinese diplomats in a high-stakes showdown that could determine whether Washington and Beijing are headed for a “new Cold War” or a diplomatic thaw.
The Biden administration has signaled it will take a hard line in the series of meetings behind closed doors in Anchorage. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, will meet with Yang Jiechi, foreign affairs director for China’s Communist Party, and State Councilor Wang Yi.
On the agenda: China’s mass internment of Uyghur Muslims, its crackdown on democracy activists in Hong Kong, its escalating aggression toward Taiwan and its trade coercion against Australia.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Thursday the administration expects the talks “to be frank.”
Ahead of his arrival in Anchorage, Blinken previewed his confrontational tone during a joint news conference with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and South Korean officials in Seoul. “We are clear-eyed about Beijing’s consistent failure to uphold its commitments and we spoke about how Beijing’s aggressive and authoritarian behavior are challenging the stability, security, and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region,” he said before boarding a plane to Alaska.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian responded: “There’s no room for China to compromise on issues related to sovereign security and core interests, and its determination and will to safeguard its core interests is unwavering.”
Blinken made his maiden trip abroad to Japan and South Korea – two key allies in the U.S. effort to contain China – before stopping in Anchorage on his way back to Washington. U.S.-China relations have been on a steep downward slide for years, as Beijing’s predatory trade practices, intellectual property theft, and other abuses left Washington policymakers increasingly alarmed. The Biden administration has cast the U.S.China
relationship as the “biggest geopolitical test of the 21st century.”
Here’s a look at three of the most contentious issues the two sides will discuss on Thursday:
The Biden administration has said China’s treatment of the Uyghurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic group in the Xinjiang region, amounts to genocide. Xi’s government has detained more than 1 million Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in “re-education” and labor camps in northwestern China. The BBC has reported that women in the camps have been subjected to systematic rape, sexual abuse and torture. Chinese officials flatly deny the accusations, casting the Uyghurs as a terrorist threat and arguing the camps are “re-education” centers. They have warned the U.S. and other countries against meddling in what they portray as an internal Chinese matter.
Mass arrests in Hong Kong
Last year, China imposed a “national security” law on Hong Kong, extinguishing the city’s limited autonomy, and began conducting mass arrests of protesters and regime critics.
China escalated its crackdown last week by giving a pro-Beijing committee power to appoint more of Hong Kong’s lawmakers.
On Wednesday, the Biden administration responded by sanctioning 24 Chinese and Hong Kong officials, virtually ensuring this will be a fresh flashpoint in Thursday’s face-to-face talks.
On Tuesday, a key Biden adviser on Indo-Pacific issues, Kurt Campbell, said the U.S. would not be able to improve relations with China until it ended its economic boycott against Australia. At issue is China’s retaliatory trade blockade of key Australian exports, including some wine, beef and timber products.
Beijing imposed the restrictions after Australia’s prime minister called for an independent inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus.
The Biden administration has said China’s treatment of the Uyghurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic group in the Xinjiang region, amounts to genocide.