US-China meet: Blinken says Beijing's actions 'threaten global stability', China responds

In the opening remarks of the highly anticipated US-China top-level meet in Alaska, Secretary of State Antony Blinken on March 18 said that Beijing’s actions “threaten the rules-based order that maintains global stability.” At the Anchorage summit with the Chinese Communist Party’s top diplomacy official, Yang Jiechi and the Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the United States Secretary of State said that Washington will “discuss our deep concerns with actions by China, including Xinjiang,” the remote western area of China where the US has accused Beijing of committing “genocide” against Uyghur Muslims. 

Blinken also added that there would be dialogue on “Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyber attacks on the United States, economic coercion toward our allies." It was followed by US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan adding that the country is not willing to pursue a conflict with China but welcomed tough competition with its strategic rival. Sullivan warned, “And we will always stand up for our principles for our people, and for our friends.”

Blinken also said, “I said that the United States relationship with China will be competitive where it should be, collaborative where it can be, adversarial where it must be.  Our discussions here in Alaska, I suspect, will run the gamut.  Our intent is to be direct about our concerns, direct about our priorities, with the goal of a more clear-eyed relationship between our countries moving forward.  Thank you for being here.”

How did China respond?

In a response to the US’ straight-forward remarks, CCP’s top diplomacy official gave a 15-minute speech in Chinese while the American delegation waited for translation. Yang lashed out about America’s struggling democracy and the poor treatment of the minorities. He also threatened “firm actions” against the “US interference” and also called for an end to the “Cold War mentality” stunting the rivals’ relationship. 

"China is firmly opposed to US interference in China's internal affairs. We have expressed our staunch opposition to such interference, and we will take firm actions in response. What we need to do is to abandon the Cold War mentality and the zero-sum game approach,” said Yang. 

“The United States uses its military force and financial hegemony to carry out long-arm jurisdiction and suppress other countries. It abuses so-called notions of national security to obstruct normal trade exchanges, and incite some countries to attack China,” he added.

The first meeting between the United States and China in-person under the Biden administration amid rising tensions came just after Blinken and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin concluded their first abroad trip. Blinken and Austin met ween Japanese and South Korean officials, raising the ‘China concern’ and stirring up support among its allies to strengthen its confrontation with China. However, during the Alaska summit, both sides appear primed to agree on very few issues which were expected to run until Friday.