United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken (2nd R), accompanied by national security adviser Jake Sullivan (R), speaks as he faces Yang Jiechi (2nd L), director of the Central Commission Office for Foreign Affairs, and Wang Yi (L), foreign minister at the opening session of the US-China negotiations at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage, Alaska, on March 18, 2021.
Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty Images
BEIJING – The first high-level meeting of American and Chinese officials under President Joe Biden began with an exchange of insults at a pre-meeting press event on Thursday.
A planned four-minute photo shoot for authorities to speak to reporters ended up lasting an hour and 15 minutes due to a foamy exchange, NBC said. Both the Chinese and the American sides continued to call reporters back to the room so they could add comments.
Expectations were already low for the meeting in Alaska with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Yang Jiechi, director of the Party’s Central Committee on Foreign Affairs Chinese Communist.
In his opening speech, Blinken said the United States would discuss its “deep concerns about China’s actions, including in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyber attacks in the United States, economic coercion against our allies,” according to an NBC transcript. . “Each of these actions threatens the rule-based order that maintains global stability.”
“That is why it is not just an internal issue, and that is why we feel an obligation to raise these issues here today,” said Blinken. “I said that the United States’ relationship with China will be competitive where it should be collaborative, the word can be antagonistic, where it should be.”
Beijing considers the issues in Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan as part of its internal affairs, and officials at the meeting reiterated that China is firmly opposed to foreign interference.
Yang said the American side “carefully orchestrated” the dialogue, according to an official translation released by NBC.
“I think we think very well about the United States, we think that the American side will follow the necessary diplomatic protocols,” said Yang, adding that “the United States is not qualified to say that it wants to speak to China from a position force. “
The two-day negotiations end Friday.
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