China and the US concluded the first in-person talk since @JoeBiden took presidency in Alaska on Friday. Washington called it a “tough and direct” talk. Many view it as revealing the depth of the tensions between #Beijing and Washington. reuters.com/article/idUSKB…
“The talks appeared to yield no diplomatic breakthroughs - as expected - but the bitter rivalry on display suggested the two countries had little common ground to reset relations that have sunk to the lowest level in decades.”
“We expected to have tough and direct talks on a wide range of issues, and that’s exactly what we had,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters moments after the Chinese delegation left the hotel meeting room.
Members of China’s delegation left the hotel without speaking to reporters, but China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi later told China’s CGTN television network that the discussions had been constructive and beneficial, “but of course, there are still differences.”
“China will firmly safeguard national sovereignty, security and development,” Yang said.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he was not surprised that the United States got a “defensive response” from China after it raised allegations of Chinese human rights abuses in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong as well as cyberattacks and pressure on Taiwan.
But Blinken said the two sides also had intersecting interests on Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan, and climate change, and that the United States had accomplished during the meetings what it had come to do.
“On economics, on trade, on technology, we told our counterparts that we are reviewing these issues with close consultation with Congress, with our allies and partners, and we will move forward on them in a way that totally protects and ...
... advances the interests of our workers and our businesses,” Blinken said.
China’s State Councilor Wang Yi, who joined the meetings, was quoted by Chinese state television as saying they had told the U.S. side that China’s sovereignty was a matter of principle and not to underestimate Beijing’s determination to defend it.
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