The Biden government has taken a bleak approach to Beijing, whose communist government they see as America’s biggest geopolitical rival. So far, the government has not acted to reverse the sanctions and tariffs imposed by Trump, but has also said it wants to work with China on common challenges, such as climate change.
“We do not seek conflict, but we welcome fierce competition and will always defend our principles, our people and our friends,” said Sullivan at the beginning of Thursday’s first meeting, according to Reuters.
Blinken said the United States will not fail to hold China accountable for its actions in places like Hong Kong, where Beijing has suppressed democracy; its economic coercion from other countries; or what American officials say is a genocidal campaign against Uighur Muslims in China’s Xinjiang region.
Beijing has always told the United States to dodge such “internal affairs”. Blinken, however, said that such Chinese actions “threaten the rule-based order that maintains global stability. That is why they are not purely internal matters. “
Without that rule-based order, it would be a “much more violent and unstable world,” said Blinken, according to a CNN account.
Yang, for his part, warned the United States to back down and accused them of hypocrisy. He said the United States used its financial and military power to intimidate other countries. He also said that America has its own long history of human rights problems, claiming that blacks are being “slaughtered” in the United States.
As reporters were about to be led outside, the American side waved them over and American officials made additional comments. Chinese officials then insisted on receiving a second round of comments as well, according to photos and reports from the crime scene.
A senior Biden government official accused Chinese diplomats of breaking the protocol, exceeding the two minutes that speakers had set aside at the beginning of the first session.
These “exaggerated diplomatic presentations are often aimed at the domestic audience,” said the official, adding that the US side intended to “outline for the Chinese delegation in particular the same messages that we have consistently conveyed in public”.
“The Chinese delegation, on the other hand, seems to have arrived with the intention of arrogance, focused on public and dramatic theater at the expense of the content,” added the official.
Chinese officials had already tried to launch the Alaskan event, which will consist of at least three sessions on Thursday and Friday, as the potential new start for a longer strategic dialogue.
But the US side described the meeting as a “one-time” attempt to convey American frustrations with Beijing and get a sense of the position of Chinese leaders in various areas of contention.
Blinken landed in Alaska after visiting US allies in South Korea and Japan, where the relationship with China was an important topic.
US officials, however, say they are still reviewing aspects of US policy towards China and intend to continue to consult with America’s allies and partners abroad.