Here are the highlights of the heated exchange between America and China in Alaska

Talks between the US and China got off to a rough start on Thursday, with both sides displaying and reprimanding each other in an extraordinary public tension.

The meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, was the first high-level meeting between the two countries under the administration of President Joe Biden, and took place after more than two years of rocky relations between the two countries.

What was initially a four-minute photo shoot eventually lasted longer than an hour as both parties negotiated rebuttals over issues of US-China relations to the concern of Washington’s allies. Reporters were told not to leave because both parties wanted to add their rebuttal.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan led the U.S. delegation. Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councilor Wang Yi and Yang Jiechi, director of the Central Communist Party’s Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, led the Chinese delegation.

Here are some excerpts and highlights from the meeting:

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken:
I said that the United States’ relationship with China would be competitive where it should work together, words could be contradictory, where it should be. I suspect our discussions here in Alaska will make the spectrum. Our goal is to be directly about our concerns, directly about our priorities, with the aim of promoting a clearer relationship between our countries.

… I have to tell you in my short time as Secretary of State that I have spoken to almost 100 peers from around the world. And I just made my first trip to Japan and South Korea. I have to tell you what I hear is very different from what you described. I hear deep satisfaction that the United States is back, that we are being involved with our allies and partners again. I also hear deep concerns about some actions your government is taking.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi:
In the past, China certainly did not and in the future did not accept the unjustified accusations from the American side. In recent years, China’s legitimate rights and interests have been suppressed, which has plunged the relationship between China and the US into a period of unprecedented problems.

… China is urging the US to abandon the hegemonic practice of intentional interference in China’s domestic affairs altogether. It was a long problem and it needs to be changed. It’s time for a change.

Chinese Director of the Central Commission on Foreign Affairs, Yang Jiechi
China and the United States are both important countries, and both show important responsibilities. We must both contribute to world peace, stability and development, in areas such as Covid-19, restoring global economic activity and responding to climate change.

There are many things we can do together and where our interests converge. So what we need to do is abandon the Cold War mentality and the zero-sum game approach.

Flashing:
We will also discuss our deep concern about China’s actions, including in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyber attacks on the United States, economic coercion against our allies. Each of these actions threatens the rule-based order that maintains global stability.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan:
Secretary of State Blinken set out many of the issues from economic and military coercion to assault on basic values ​​that we will discuss with you today and in the coming days.

… We have heard all these concerns from around the world, from our allies and partners and the wider international community during the intensive consultations we have undertaken over the past two months. We will make it clear today that our top priority to the United States is to ensure that our approach to the world and our approach to China benefit the American people and protect the interests of our allies and partners.

We do not seek conflict, but we welcome fierce competition and we will always stand up for our principles for our people and for our friends.

Yang:
It is also important for all of us to come together to build a new kind of international relations, with justice, fairness and mutual respect. And on some regional issues, I think, the problem is that the United States has exercised long jurisdiction and oppression, and that it has stretched too much.

… The United States itself does not represent public opinion, nor does the Western world. Whether judged by the population scale or the trend of the world, the Western world does not represent the general public opinion. So we hope that when we talk about universal values ​​or international public opinion of the United States, we hope that the American side will consider whether it feels comfortable saying those things because the USA does not represent the world. It represents the government of the United States only.

Sullivan:
Secretary Blinken and I are proud of the story of America we can tell here, of a country that, under President Biden’s leadership, has made great strides in controlling the pandemic, saving our economy, and reaffirming our strength and endurance. . democracy. We are particularly proud of the work we have done to revive our alliances and partnerships, the foundation of our foreign policy.

Yang:
And the United States has its style, democracy in the United States. And China has the Chinese democracy. It is not only the American people, but also the people of the world to evaluate how the United States has done to promote their own democracy. In the case of China, after decades of reform and opening up, we have come a long way in various fields.

… We believe that it is important for the United States to change its own image and to promote its own democracy in the rest of the world. Many people in the United States actually have little confidence in the democracy of the United States and they have different opinions regarding the government of the United States in China.

Blinken:

A hallmark of our leadership, of our involvement in the world, is our alliances and our partnerships built on a voluntary basis. And this is something that President Biden is committed to strengthening and strengthening. And there’s another characteristic of our leadership here at home, and that is a constant pursuit to form a more perfect union.

And by this definition, our imperfections are recognized as not perfect. We make mistakes. We, we have backlinks, we take steps back. But what we have done throughout our history is to deal with the challenges openly, publicly and transparently. Do not try to ignore them. Do not try to pretend that they do not exist. Do not try to sweep them under the rug. And sometimes it’s painful. Sometimes it’s ugly. But every time we come out stronger, better, more united, as a country.

I remember well when President Biden was Vice President and we visited China … and at the time Vice President Biden said, it’s never a good bet to bet against America. And it remains true today.