Top Chinese, US Diplomats Have Candid Talks in Alaska

China and the US held high-level talks in Anchorage, Alaska on March 18 and 19, the first face-to-face engagement between the two sides since US President Joe Biden took office in January.

The opening statements saw the meetings off to a testy start. The US delegation led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan accused China of threatening global order over actions related to Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Tibet and cyberspace.

The Chinese delegation led by China's top diplomat Yang Jiechi, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Foreign Minister Wang Yi robustly refuted the US'S claims, saying that China always values protecting human rights and that China implements the “democracy of Chinese characteristics” based on the “People First” principle.

“The challenges facing the United States in human rights are deep-seated. They did not just emerge over the past four years … it's important that we manage our respective affairs well instead of deflecting the blame on somebody else in this world,” Yang told his American counterparts.

“And China certainly in the past has not and in the future will not accept the unwarranted accusations from the US side... China urges the US side to fully abandon the hegemonic practice of willfully interfering in China's internal affairs. This has been a longstanding issue, and it should be changed,” Wang said.

After the contentious start, the subsequent rounds of closed talks went more smoothly, according to media reports. The two sides discussed regional and international issues of concern, including climate change, the Korean Peninsula and the Covid-19 pandemic.

At the closing press briefing following the third round of talks, Blinken said that the US and China had “sincere” exchanges though both sides have fundamental disputes on some issues. He said the US shared with China the “significant concerns” about a number of actions that China has taken and laid out very clearly the US'S own policies, priorities and worldview.

The Chinese delegation expressed the same comment at the conclusion of the dialogue, saying at a separate briefing that China hopes both sides can increase communications, exchanges and dialogues in various fields and deal with the bilateral relationship on the principle of “no confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation.” Wang emphasized that sovereign rights and territorial integrity are matters of principle for China and told the US not to underestimate China's resolution to protect its sovereign rights, national security and the interests of development.

At the end of the Trump era, Sino-us relations were all but frozen, and with the US'S announcement on the eve of the Alaska meeting that it was sanctioning 24 Chinese officials over the Hong Kong issue, hopes were not high for the bilateral dialogue, Chinese observers said.

“We do not expect that one dialogue can resolve all the issues between China and the US, so we do not have unrealistic expectations or illusions on it. But I hope that it will become a beginning and that the two sides will start a candid, constructive and rational process of dialogue and communication,” Cui Tiankai, Chinese ambassador to the US, told Chinese media in an interview in Anchorage ahead of the Sino-us dialogue.