US AND CHINA EXCHANGE SHARP REBUKES IN ALASKA
Officials from US and China exchanged angry words in the first high-level talks between the Biden administration and China. In the talks held in Alaska, Chinese officials accused the US of inciting countries “to attack China”, while the US said China had “arrived intent on grandstanding”.
US pledged to raise the issue of China’s treatment of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang. In a blunt opening statement before the talks in private, Antony Blinken, Secretary of State, said the US would discuss the deep concerns with actions by China, including in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyber-attacks on the United States and economic coercion of allies.
While the US side was represented by Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Yang Jiechi, Foreign Policy Official and Wang Yi, Foreign Minister of China, represented China.
The talks, as mentioned by a US official, ran over the planned two hours and had been “substantive, serious and direct”.
Relations between the two superpowers are at their most strained for years.
