Here are the highlights of the US-China heated exchange in Alaska

Negotiations between the U.S. and China got off to a rough start on Thursday, with both sides scolding and rebuking in an unusual public display of tensions.

The meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, was the first high-level meeting between the two countries under President Joe Biden’s administration, and came after more than two years of difficult relations between the two countries.

What initially was supposed to be a four-minute photo shoot ended up lasting more than an hour, as both sides exchanged barbs about issues in US-China relations with concerns from Washington’s allies. Reporters were told not to leave, as both sides wanted to add their rebuttal.

Leading the US delegation were Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan. China’s Foreign Minister and State Adviser Wang Yi and Yang Jiechi, director of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Foreign Affairs Commission, headed the Chinese delegation.

Here are some excerpts and highlights from the meeting:

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken:
I said that the United States’ relationship with China will be competitive where it should be collaborative, words can be antagonistic, where it should be. Our discussions here in Alaska, I suspect, will cover the entire range. Our intention is to be direct about our concerns, direct about our priorities, with the aim of a clearer relationship between our countries going forward.

… I must say that in my short time as Secretary of State, I talked to, I think, almost 100 counterparts from around the world. And I just made my first trip, as I noted, to Japan and South Korea. I must say that what I am hearing is very different from what you have described. I am hearing profound satisfaction that the United States is back, that we are again committed to our allies and partners. I am also hearing deep concern about some of the actions that your government is taking.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi:
China has certainly not accepted in the past and in the future will not accept unjustified accusations on the side of the United States. In recent years, China’s legitimate rights and interests have been completely suppressed, plunging China-US relations into a period of unprecedented difficulty.

… China urges the American side to completely abandon the hegemonic practice of intentionally interfering in China’s internal affairs. This is an old problem and must be changed. It’s time to change.

Director of the Central Committee on Foreign Affairs of China, Yang Jiechi
China and the United States are important countries and both show important responsibilities. We must contribute to the peace, stability and development of the world, in areas such as Covid-19, restoring economic activities in the world and responding to climate change.

There are many things we can do together and where our interests converge. So what we need to do is to abandon the Cold War mentality and the zero-sum game approach.

Blinken:
We will also discuss our deep concerns about China’s actions, including in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyber attacks in the United States, economic coercion against our allies. Each of these actions threatens the rule-based order that maintains global stability.

US National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan:
Secretary of State Blinken has exposed many areas of concern, from economic and military coercion to attacking basic values ​​that we will discuss with you today and in the days ahead.

… We listened to each of these concerns from around the world, from our allies and partners and from the international community in general during the intensive consultations we have held over the past two months. Let’s make it clear today that our top priority on the side of the United States is to ensure that our approach in the world and our approach in China benefits the American people and protects the interests of our allies and partners.

We do not seek conflict, but we accept fierce competition and will always defend our principles for our people and for our friends.

Yang:
It is also important that we all come together to build a new type of international relations, presenting equity, justice and mutual respect. And on some regional issues, I think the problem is that the United States has exercised jurisdiction and suppression for a long time and has exaggerated.

… The United States itself does not represent international public opinion or the Western world. Whether judged by population scale or world trend, the Western world does not represent global public opinion. So we hope that when talking about universal values ​​or international public opinion on the part of the United States, we hope that the American side will think if it feels safe to say these things because the United States does not represent the world. It represents only the United States government.

Sullivan:
Secretary Blinken and I are proud of the story about America that we can tell here, about a country that under President Biden’s leadership has made great strides to control the pandemic, to rescue our economy and to assert the strength and staying power of our democracy. We are particularly proud of the work we have done to revitalize our alliances and partnerships, the basis of our foreign policy.

Yang:
And the United States has its style, a democracy in the style of the United States. And China has a Chinese-style democracy. It is not only up to the American people, but also to the peoples of the world, to assess the performance of the United States in advancing its own democracy. In the case of China, after decades of reform and openness, we have come a long way in several fields.

… 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. Many people in the United States, in fact, have little confidence in the democracy of the United States and have various points of view about the United States government in China.

Blinken:

A hallmark of our leadership, of our engagement in the world, are our alliances and partnerships that were built entirely voluntarily. And it is something that President Biden is committed to invigorating and strengthening. And there is another registered trademark of our leadership here at home, which is a constant search for, as we say, forming a more perfect union.

And this search, by definition, recognizes our imperfections, recognizes that we are not perfect. We make mistakes. We, have reversals, take steps backwards. But what we have done throughout our history is to face these challenges in an open, public and transparent way. Not trying to ignore them. Not trying to pretend that they don’t exist. Not trying to sweep them under the rug. And sometimes it’s painful. Sometimes it’s ugly. But we always come out stronger, better, more united as a country.

I remember when President Biden was Vice President and we were visiting China … and Vice President Biden at the time said: it is never a good bet to bet against the United States. And that remains true today.