Jacob Greber AFR correspondent Mar 19, 2021 https://www.afr.com/world/north-ame...e-as-us-and-china-trade-barbs-20210319-p57c6e The first high-level meeting of US and Chinese diplomats since President Joe Biden’s inauguration descended immediately into a open sparring match, underscoring the growing divisions between the world’s two biggest economies. US officials quickly accused China of “grandstanding” after the Chinese delegation ditched an apparent promise to keep their opening public statements short. The two sides are meeting in a hotel in Anchorage, Alaska, on Thursday (Friday AEDT) for what is expected to be two days of tense talks. US national security adviser Jake Sullivan has put China on notice as high-level talks begin. AP Washington began by insisting Beijing needed to curb its economic coercion of countries such as Australia before the relationship between the giants can improve. In response, the Chinese accused the US of poisoning the meeting. Already-low expectations for any positive outcome were dashed in the opening minutes as National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan called for the two sides to work on common challenges, primarily climate change. welcome stiff competition, and we will always stand up for our principles, for our people, and for our friends,” said Mr Sullivan, alongside US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and facing China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, and State Councillor Wang Yi. Mr Blinken added that the US side would raise “deep concerns” about Chinese actions against Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as cyber attacks on the US and economic coercion of allies. “Each of these actions threaten the rules-based order,” Mr Blinken said, adding that without a “rules-based order” there would be a “much more violent world”. Mr Yang hit back, accusing the US of using its military and economic strength to bully other countries and noted America’s own history of human rights issue, including the fact that African Americans are “slaughtered” in the US. After an initial round of remarks, reporters were being ushered out of the room when Mr Sullivan waved at them to stay for some additional comments. The Chinese side then insisted on getting a second round of comments, according to wire reports, video footage and twitter accounts from those at the scene. After the tense back-and-forth, a US official told reporters that such “exaggerated diplomatic presentations often are aimed at a domestic audience”. The US official said they intended to privately outline for the Chinese delegation the issues they have with Beijing. “The Chinese delegation, on the other hand, seems to have arrived intent on grandstanding, focused on public theatrics and dramatics over substance,” the official said. In the lead-up to the talks, China sought to portray the meeting as the potential start to a broader dialogue – an idea the American side has firmly downplayed. The talks, which the US insisted take place on American soil, are not expected to produce any hard outcomes, not least because the Biden administration has made a thaw in the relationship conditional on China’s actions towards allies. “A big part of the strategy is approaching our relationship with China from a place of strength,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said earlier in the day. At the same time, the Chinese foreign ministry blasted the US for spoiling the atmosphere for the talks. “The US side has chosen to speak and act in ways that gravely disappoint China,” said ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian. One of Mr Biden’s top Asia policy experts, Kurt Campbell, told The Sydney Morning Herald this week that the “US is not prepared to improve relations in a bilateral and separate context at the same time that a close and dear ally is being subjected to a form of economic coercion”. “We are not going to leave Australia alone on the field.” The Wall Street Journal reported this week that the Chinese delegation will urge Mr Blinken and Mr Sullivan to roll back punitive policies imposed by the Trump administration, including limits on Chinese entities and individuals. High-level US and Chinese officials have not held in-person meetings in more than eight months as a series of contentious issues – including cyber espionage, the COVID-19 pandemic, and Chinese actions against Taiwan soured relations.
Clashes during US-China talks in Alaska Humeyra Pamuk, Michael Martina and David BrunnstromAAP Fri, 19 March 2021 https://thewest.com.au/politics/diplomacy/us-china-set-to-kick-off-talks-in-alaska-ng-s-2054062 The United States and China have levelled sharp rebukes of each others' policies in the first high-level, in-person talks of the Biden administration, with deeply strained relations of the two global rivals on rare public display during the meeting's opening session in Alaska. The US, which quickly accused China of grandstanding and violating the meeting's protocol, had been looking for a change in behaviour from China which had earlier this year expressed hope for a reset to sour relations. On the eve of the talks, Beijing had presaged what would be a contentious meeting, with its ambassador to Washington saying the US was full of illusions if it thinks China will compromise. Sparring in a highly unusual extended back-and-forth in front of cameras, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan opened their meeting with China's top diplomat Yang Jiechi and State Councilor Wang Yi in Anchorage, fresh off of Blinken's visits to allies Japan and South Korea. "We will discuss our deep concerns with actions by China, including in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyber attacks on the United States, economic coercion of our allies," Blinken said in blunt public remarks at the top of the first meeting. "Each of these actions threaten the rules-based order that maintains global stability," he said. Yang responded with a 15-minute speech in Chinese while the US side awaited translation, lashing out about what he said was the US' struggling democracy, poor treatment of minorities and criticising its foreign and trade policies. "The United States uses its military force and financial hegemony to carry out long arm jurisdiction and suppress other countries," Yang said. "It abuses so-called notions of national security to obstruct normal trade exchanges, and incite some countries to attack China," he added. "Let me say here that in front of the Chinese side, the United States does not have the qualification to say that it wants to speak to China from a position of strength," Yang said. "The US side was not even qualified to say such things, even 20 years or 30 years back, because this is not the way to deal with the Chinese people..." Apparently taken aback by Yang's remarks, Blinken held journalists in the room so he could respond. Sullivan said the US did not seek conflict with China, but would stand up for its principles and friends. He touted this year's Mars rover landing success, and said the United States' promise was in its ability constantly reinvent itself. What is typically a few minutes of opening remarks open to press for such high-level meetings lasted for more than an hour, and the two delegations tussled about when media would be ushered out of the room. Following the exchange, a senior US administration official said China had immediately "violated" agreed-to protocol, which was two minutes of opening remarks by each of the principals. "The Chinese delegation seems to have arrived intent on grandstanding, focused on public theatrics and dramatics over substance," the official told reporters in Alaska. The US would continue with its meeting as planned, the official said, adding that "exaggerated diplomatic presentations often are aimed at a domestic audience". Before taking office, US President Joe Biden had been attacked by Republicans who feared his administration would take too soft approach with China. But in recent weeks, top Republicans have given the president a gentle nod for revitalising relations with US allies in order to confront China, a shift from former president Donald Trump's go-it-alone "America First" strategy. While much of Biden's China policy is still being formulated, including how to handle the tariffs on Chinese goods implemented under Trump, his administration has so far placed a stronger emphasis on democratic values and allegations of human rights abuses by China.
U.S. tells China it does not seek conflict; but will stand up for principles, friends https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-alaska-blinken-idUSKBN2BA2U8 The Biden administration began its first high-level in-person talks with rival China on Thursday, saying that Chinese actions threaten a global order based on rules and vowing that Washington would also stand up for its friends. “We do not seek conflict, but we welcome stiff competition, and we will always stand up for our principles, for our people, and for our friends,” the U.S. national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said at the start of talks with Chinese counterparts in Alaska. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, and State Councilor Wang Yi in Anchorage that the U.S. side would discuss its “deep concerns” about Chinese actions in Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as cyber attacks on the United States and economic coercion of allies. “Each of these actions threaten the rules-based order that maintains global stability,” he said. In lengthy response to the U.S. opening statements, Yang hit back, accusing the United States of using its military might and financial supremacy to pressure countries and of abusing national security to threaten the future of international trade. He said Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan were all inseparable parts of Chinese territory and China firmly opposed U.S. interference in its internal affairs. Yang said human rights in the United States were at a low point with Black Americans being “slaughtered” and added that the United States should handle its own affairs and China its own. Yang said it was necessary to abandon a “Cold War mentality,” and confrontation and added: “The way we see the relationship with the United States is as President Xi Jinping has said, that is we hope to see no confrontation, no conflict, mutual respect and win-win cooperation with the United States.”
U.S., China End Contentious Alaska Meeting With Little to Show By Nick Wadhams 20 March 2021 No announcement is made about a potential Xi-Biden summit Yang, Blinken traded barbs at opening of talks on Thursday Yang Jiechi, second left, and Wang Yi, second right, depart following the conclusion of talks in Anchorage, Alaska, on March 19. Photographer: Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Bloomberg Top U.S. and Chinese officials ended their first face-to-face talks of the Biden administration, saying they voiced their disagreements candidly over hours of conversations in an Alaska hotel and signaling their failure to reach any agreement about the path ahead. “We wanted to share with them the significant concerns we have about a number of actions China has taken,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said after the talks in Anchorage, Alaska, ended on Friday, citing China’s crackdowns in Xinjiang, Taiwan and Hong Kong, as well as its cyber-attacks. “And we did that.” Antony Blinken, left, and Jake Sullivan address the media following the closed-door morning talks in Anchorage, Alaska, on March 19. Photographer: Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the delegation was ready to return to Washington “to take stock of where we are.” Blinken and Sullivan took no questions following their statements. Yang Jiechi, a member of the Communist Party’s Politburo, told Chinese reporters after the U.S. officials spoke that the talks were “candid, constructive and helpful” but added that “there are still some important differences between the two sides.” “China is going to safeguard our national sovereignty, security, and our interests,” Yang said. “We hope the two sides could enhance communication and exchanges.’ Neither side, however, said what they thought should come next. While the U.S. had sought to tone down expectations for the gathering, there had been some hope of at least minimal progress. Before the meetings, officials had raised the possibility of a summit between President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden linked to Earth Day next month, but neither side made such an announcement. The failure to announce any accomplishment suggested they weren’t able to reach the already low bar they had set ahead of the talks. Blinken said the negotiators discussed issues where their interests intersected, citing North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan and climate change. The meeting’s results also underscored that neither government feels great urgency to cooperate with the other. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in the U.S. have pressed President Joe Biden to maintain former President Donald Trump’s tough tone on China, and his team has largely done so. Hong Kong Dispute Heading into the Alaska meeting, Chinese officials were angered when the U.S. announced new sanctions on 24 Hong Kong and Chinese people over the erosion of democratic freedoms in the former colony, a move some analysts interpreted as suggesting the U.S. had no desire to start patching up the relationship. The talks got off to the rocky start on Thursday when the two sides used normally perfunctory opening statements in front the cameras to trade recriminations and insults. Blinken said China’s actions in Xinjiang and Hong Kong undermined the international order, while Yang blasted American hypocrisy and said the U.S. didn’t speak for the world. He called the U.S. the “champion” of cyber-attacks.
China has no interest in bridging the democracy divide with the US By Eryk Bagshaw March 20, 2021 https://www.watoday.com.au/world/as...cracy-divide-with-the-us-20210319-p57cei.html “The US does not represent the world,” said Beijing’s number one diplomat Yang Jiechi. “And neither does the western world.” Yang told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan that American-style democracy order no longer suited the needs of the world’s 7.7 billion people. “The US has its style of democracy and China has its style of democracy,” he said. American democracy, in Yang’s account, has started wars, jailed black citizens at three times the rate of their population, and allowed COVID-19 to run rampant. The Chinese-style of democracy has never been more popular, Yang said. It has eliminated absolute poverty and achieved a “strategic victory” over COVID-19. “We believe that it is important for the US to change its own image and to stop advancing its own democracy in the rest of the world.” China, emboldened by a coterie of nations in eastern Europe, south-east Asia, Africa and South America to whom it gives patronage in return for international support, is now staking its ground. It is carving out its own sphere of influence among countries that feel marginalised by the West. “What China and the international community follow and uphold is the United Nations centred international system,” said Yang. “Not what is advocated by a small number of countries of the so-called rules-based international order.” Beneath the rhetoric, China’s own public lack of self-awareness remains its biggest hurdle to achieving what its economy has long promised: international respect. It condemns the treatment of black Americans and Indigenous Australians while imprisoning, sterilising and torturing Uighurs. It says it has eliminated poverty but has a per-capita GDP one-sixth of the United States. It says its values are the same as the common values of humanity “peace, development, fairness, justice, freedom and democracy” but it has wiped out the opposition in Hong Kong and built a justice system with a 99 per cent conviction rate. “The fact is there are many problems within the US regarding human rights which the US has admitted itself,” said Yang. Indeed, said Sullivan. “A confident country is able to look hard at its own shortcomings”.