March 22, 2021–The kid-gloves came off at the first in-person meeting between the United States and China under the new U.S. administration. In a sign that tensions between the world’s two largest economies are rising, the diplomats exchanged political punches from the beginning. They met first in front of cameras at the beginning of two-day strategic dialogue in Anchorage, Alaska.
Typically, televised remarks might be a brief exchange of niceties. But , this exchange was anything but typical. It wasn’t brief. And it wasn’t polite.
In fact, the opening remarks turned into an extended exchange of insults and condemnations between the countries’ top diplomats.
The United States launched the first blows.
U.S. Cites Concerns on Hong Kong, Human Rights and Coercion
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. relationship with China “will be competitive where it should be, collaborative where it can be, adversarial where it must be.”
Adding detail to description, Blinken cited “deep concerns” in regards to China’s actions in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Xinjiang.
It’s noteworthy he mentioned Xinjiang. That is the region in China where the Uyghur minority faces detention ongoing human rights abuse.
Blinken also accused China of launching cyber attacks on the United States and using economic coercion against U.S. allies.
“Each of these actions threatens the rules-based order that maintains global stability. That’s why they’re not merely internal matters and why we feel an obligation to raise these issues here today,” Blinken said.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan topped that off with a complaint that China makes “assaults on basic values” and uses “economic and military coercion” to achieve its objectives around the world.
China’s representatives were ready for the brawl.
China: U.S. Hegemony and ‘Deep Seated’ Human Rights Problems
Yang Jiechi, China’s foreign affairs director, criticized the U.S. foreign policy for striving for goals “through the use of force and financial hegemony.” He said human rights problems in the United States, such as issues highlighted by the Black Lives Matter movement, are “deep seated” and long-term.
“They did not happen in the last four years,” Yang said. “It did not just emerge.”
Yang spoke for more than 16 minutes. Primarily, he put forth a competing of governing, a “Chinese-style democracy” filled with “common values of humanity.” In China, he said, the people rally around the the Chinese Communist Party.
“Our values are the same as the common values of humanity. Those are peace, development, fairness, justice, freedom and democracy,” Yang said.
International Order Under the United Nations
It’s noteworthy that Yang rejected the idea of a rules-based order, which he said is “advocated by a small number of countries.” Rather, China follows and upholds the United Nations-centered international system.
Furthermore, Yang called on the United States to “change its own image” and to “stop advancing its own democracy to rest of the world.”
“The wars in this world have started by some other countries, which has resulted in mass casualties,” he said. “We do not believe in invading through the use of force or to topple other regimes through various means.”
Hong Kong Electoral System and U.S. Sanctions
The timing of the meeting in itself was an issue.
The day before it started, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions against 24 Chinese officials, many of them members of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee. According to the press statement announcing the sanctions, the U.S. government deems the individuals to “materially contributing to” the “failure” by China to meet its obligations to the Hong Kong’s Basic Law under the Sino–British Joint Declaration.
The sanctions came in response to China’s decision to change the electoral system in Hong Kong to ensure that officials ruling there are “patriots.”
“This is not supposed to be the way one should welcome his guests,” China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said of the imposition of the new sanctions.
‘Difficult’ International Relations
Wang added that China will not “accept unwarranted accusations” by the United States. “This has damaged the interests of our two peoples and taken its toll on world stability and development, and this situation must no longer continue,” he said. Furthermore, Wang said, if the United States is to “indiscriminately protest” China on behalf of its allies, “it will be very difficult for international relations to develop properly.”
For more information about the March 18-19 talks, see the U.S. State Department release about the meeting and China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs briefing. You can also watch the fiery exchange on CSPAN.
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