US accuses Chinese regime of “threatening” global stability

Chinese regime’s actions “threaten the rules-based order that guarantees global stability”, warned the US Secretary of State on Thursday, Antony blink, at the opening of a two-day meeting with their Chinese counterparts in Alaska.

“We will discuss our deep concerns about China’s actions in Xinjiang,” where Washington accuses Beijing of “genocide” against Uyghur Muslims, “From Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyber attacks against the United States and economic coercion against our allies”, he added in front of the senior diplomatic official of the Chinese Communist Party, Yang jiechi, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi.

“Each of these acts threatens the rules-based order that guarantees global stability. This is why it is not only a question of internal affairs, and we feel the obligation to speak about it here today ”, he added, in response to China, which affirms that the aforementioned does not are not subjects of diplomacy.

Likewise, Jake sullivanNational Security Advisor to President Joe Biden argued that the United States does not want a conflict with China, but encourages “tough competition” with its strategic rival.

“We are not looking for conflict, but we welcome fierce competition. And we will always stand by our standards for our people and for our friends, ”warned Sullivan, in Anchorage.

The Xi Jinping regime, for its part, he urged the United States to “let go of the cold war mentality”. He also threatened firm actions “against” US interference. “We have expressed our strong opposition to such interference and we will take firm action in response,” Yang Jiechi said.

U.S. and Chinese diplomats met in Alaska for their first face-to-face conversations since President Joe Biden took office, ready to discuss a long list of issues on which they have widely differed.

Relations between Washington and Beijing remain controversial after being strained under President Donald Trump. The conflict has reached all levels, from commercial to defense, technology and the situation in Hong Kong.

Blinken and Sullivan were scheduled for talks with senior Chinese official Yang Jiechi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday afternoon.

Anchorage was seen as a more neutral meeting place than Washington or Beijing for the three-session summit which ends on Friday. Despite the efforts, the expectations of both parties are limited.

“We have come to these discussions knowing the worrying record of China not keeping its promises,” said an American spokeswoman, who pledged to denounce the actions of the Asian giant which “call into question the security, the prosperity and values ​​of the United States. “

A representative of the Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a warning to Washington, Alaska: Beijing has room for compromise on issues related to its sovereignty, security and fundamental interests, ”the spokesman said. Zhao Lijian.

Zhao urged the United States not to engage in “megaphone diplomacy” with China, after Washington said it intended to show its steadfastness towards Beijing after staging a series of reconstruction of China. alliances in Asia.

“The United States should meet with China halfway and conduct the dialogue in a sincere and constructive manner.”Zhao said.

Bonnie Glaser, director of the energy project at the China Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the discussions would have limited impact: “They will analyze if there is any commonality in certain problems and if there are ways to manage and even reduce their differences.”

“Expectations will remain low. A restoration of the relationship is not in sight, ”he added.

The last meeting between the two powers, in June, did nothing to thaw the cold relationship that seemed to mark a new cold war towards the end of Trump’s tenure.

Biden maintained a hard line on China, and Blinken said it represented “the greatest American geopolitical test of the 21st century”.

Still, the new US president’s team have said they want to engage diplomatically on the world stage, in a twist of Trump’s isolationist stance. Especially on issues such as climate change, the pandemic and the non-proliferation of arms, in which Washington had distanced itself from its allies.

Thursday’s meeting follows a visit by Blinken to Japan and South Korea, two key allies in the Asia-Pacific region. In Tokyo, the US Secretary of State warned China against resorting to “coercion and destabilizing behavior”.

The head of diplomacy and the defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, also attended an important summit between the leaders of the so-called Quad alliance, which brings together the United States, Australia, Japan and India, as a brake on China’s ambitions.

Blinken and his peers have criticized Xi Jinping’s regime on various issues, including the erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy, tensions with Taiwan and Tibet, the treatment of the Uyghur population in Xinjiang, Beijing’s demands on the China Sea. South, the theft of intellectual property and a supposed opacity on the origins of the pandemic.

“It’s a long litany of disagreements we have with the People’s Republic of China”a State Department spokesperson said last week. “It’s not just our litany.”

Elizabeth Economy, a senior researcher at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, said that while the Biden administration has moved away from Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric, bilateral relations remain strained.

“Beijing will not back down on Xinjiang or Hong Kong; these are questions of sovereignty ”, he told AFP.

“It’s hard to see China change course on an issue of importance to the United States. We are in a position where our core values ​​and our vision of the future world are fundamentally at odds, ”he said.

With information from AFP

KEEP READING: