ANCHORAGE, Alaska 鈥� Top U.S. and Chinese officials offered sharply different views of each other and the world on Thursday as the two sides met face-to-face for the first time since President Joe Biden took office.
In unusually pointed public remarks for a staid diplomatic meeting, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Communist Party foreign affairs chief Yang Jiechi took aim at each other鈥檚 country's policies at the start of two days of talks in Alaska. The contentious tone of their public comments suggested the private discussions would be even more rocky.
The meetings in Anchorage were a new test in increasingly troubled relations between the two countries, which are at odds over a range of issues from trade to human rights in Tibet, Hong Kong and China鈥檚 western Xinjiang region, as well as over Taiwan, China鈥檚 assertiveness in the South China Sea and the coronavirus pandemic.
Blinken said the Biden administration is united with its allies in pushing back against China鈥檚 increasing authoritarianism and assertiveness at home and abroad. Yang then unloaded a list of Chinese complaints about the U.S. and accused Washington of hypocrisy for criticizing Beijing on human rights and other issues.
鈥淓ach of these actions threaten the rules-based order that maintains global stability,鈥� Blinken said of China's actions in Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and of cyber attacks on the United States and economic coercion against U.S. allies. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why they鈥檙e not merely internal matters, and why we feel an obligation to raise these issues here today.鈥�
National security adviser Jake Sullivan amplified the criticism, saying China has undertaken an 鈥渁ssault on basic values.鈥�
鈥淲e do not seek conflict but we welcome stiff competition,鈥� he said.
Yang responded angrily by demanding the U.S. stop pushing its own version of democracy at a time when the United States itself has been roiled by domestic discontent. He also accused the U.S. of failing to deal with its own human rights problems and took issue with what he said was 鈥渃ondescension鈥� from Blinken, Sullivan and other U.S. officials.
鈥淲e 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,鈥� he said. 鈥淢any people within the United States actually have little confidence in the democracy of the United States.鈥�
鈥淐hina will not accept unwarranted accusations from the U.S. side,鈥� he said, adding that recent developments had plunged relations 鈥渋nto a period of unprecedented difficulty鈥� that 鈥渉as damaged the interests of our two peoples.鈥�
'There is no way to strangle China," he said.
Blinken appeared to be annoyed by the tenor and length of the comments, which went on for more than 15 minutes. He said his impressions from speaking with world leaders and on his just-concluded trip to Japan and South Korea were entirely different from the Chinese position.
鈥淚鈥檓 hearing deep satisfaction that the United States is back, that we're reengaged,鈥� Blinken retorted. 鈥淚鈥檓 also hearing deep concern about some of the actions your government is taking.鈥�
Underscoring the animosity, the State Department blasted the Chinese delegation for violating an agreed upon two-minute time limit for opening statements and suggested it 鈥渟eem(ed) to have arrived intent on grandstanding, focused on public theatrics and dramatics over substance.鈥�
鈥淎merica鈥檚 approach will be undergirded by confidence in our dealing with Beijing 鈥� which we are doing from a position of strength 鈥� even as we have the humility to know that we are a country eternally striving to become a more perfect union,鈥� it said.
U.S.-China ties have been torn for years, and the Biden administration has yet to signal whether it鈥檚 ready or willing to back away from the hard-line stances taken under Donald Trump.
Just a day before the meeting, Blinken had announced new sanctions over Beijing's crackdown on pro-democracy advocates in Hong Kong. In response, China stepped up its rhetoric opposing U.S. interference in domestic affairs and complained directly about it.
鈥淚s this a decision made by the United States to try to gain some advantage in dealing with China?" State Councilor Wang Yi asked. "Certainly this is miscalculated and only reflects the vulnerability and weakness inside the United States and it will not shake China鈥檚 position or resolve on those issues.鈥�
Trump had taken pride in forging what he saw as a strong relationship with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. But the relationship disintegrated after the coronavirus pandemic spread from the Wuhan province across the globe and unleashed a public health and economic disaster.
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Lee reported from Washington.
Matthew Lee And Mark Thiessen, The Associated Press
