Top US, China diplomats to hold first in-person talks since Biden took office
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Antony Blinken (top left) and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan (bottom left) will meet in Anchorage with China’s State Councillor Wang Yi (top right) and top diplomat Yang Jiechi.
PHOTOS: REUTERS, AFP
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WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with top Chinese officials on March 18 in Alaska, the White House said on Wednesday (March 10), the first high-level in-person contact between the two sparring countries under the Biden administration.
The meeting, taking place on Mr Blinken's return from his first overseas trip to key US allies Japan and South Korea, will come amid what is shaping up to be a major US diplomatic push to solidify alliances in Asia and Europe to counter China.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan will join the meeting in Anchorage with China's top diplomat Yang Jiechi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, adding that the administration would approach its relations with China "in lockstep" with its partners.
"It was important to us that this administration's first meeting with Chinese officials be held on American soil, and occur after we have met and consulted closely with partners and allies in both Asia and Europe," Ms Psaki told a news briefing.
She said the meeting would be "an opportunity to address a wide range of issues, including ones where we have deep disagreements".
China's foreign ministry on Thursday confirmed the meeting.
Commenting on the talks, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said China hopes the US can move relations back onto a "healthy and stable" track, view relations objectively and rationally, forsake the Cold War mentality and zero-sum mindset, and to respect China's sovereignty, security and interests.
Mr Zhao also urged the US to stop interfering in China's internal affairs and to manage differences between both countries.
President Joe Biden's administration has committed to reviewing elements of US policies towards China, as the world's two largest economies navigate frosty relations that sank to their lowest depths in decades during Mr Donald Trump's presidency.
Mr Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Mr Xi Jinping, held their first phone call as leaders last month and appeared at odds on most issues, even as Mr Xi warned that confrontation would be a disaster for both nations.
Testifying before the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday, Mr Blinken signalled that next week's meeting would not be a return to regular senior-level dialogues used under past US administrations, which had been increasingly criticised in Washington for yielding little progress on US grievances with Beijing.
"There's no intent at this point for a series of follow-on engagements. Those engagements, if they are to follow, really have to be based on the proposition that we're seeing tangible progress and tangible outcomes on the issues of concern to us with China," Mr Blinken said.
US diplomatic push
Mr Blinken also said that if China insists that it is not violating the human rights of Uighur Muslims in its Xinjiang region, it should provide the world access to the area.
United Nations experts and rights groups say China has detained more than a million Uighurs and other minorities there, actions that the US has deemed a genocide. Beijing denies abuses, saying facilities in the region are for vocational training to counter the threat of terrorism.
The talks in Alaska will follow the visit by Mr Blinken and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin to Japan and South Korea next week, as well as an online summit on Friday between Mr Biden and the leaders of Japan, India and Australia.
That will be the first leader-level meeting of the four-country group, known as the Quad, seen as part of US efforts to boost its diplomacy in Asia to balance China's growing military and economic power.
Ms Bonnie Glaser, an Asia expert at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said the timing of the meeting sends the message to Beijing that US alliances are strong.
Discussions are likely to focus on China's policies towards Hong Kong, its pressure on Taiwan, its treatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang, and what Washington sees as economic coercion against Australia, she said.
"If the Chinese repeat their messages contained in recent speeches that the US is to blame for the problems in the US-China relationship and therefore the ball is in the US court, then nothing positive will come of this meeting," Ms Glaser said.
