Fireworks at talks, US chides China over cyber attacks, rights violations
Tribune News Service
NEW DELHI, MARCH 19
After the bonhomie displayed with leaders of Quad and Europe, the Biden administration publicly crossed swords with its two identified strategic rivals, Russia and China.
The public part of US-China talks in Alaska saw fireworks right from the moment US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken read his prepared statement. The US, he said, would discuss with China its “deep concerns” about Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyber attacks on the US and economic coercion of its allies. “Each of these actions threatens the rules-based order that maintains global stability,” he said
The US and Russia also kept up their sparring. Russian President Vladimir Putin invited his US counterpart Joe Biden for a public debate over the weekend and wished him “good health” but clarified that there was no irony in wishing the 78-year-old leader. In response to an unusual opening statement which is generally platitudinous, China’s senior foreign policy leader Yang Jiechi gesticulated, another unusual gesture while delivering the opening statement.
He accused the US of using its military might and financial supremacy to suppress other countries and abusing the notion of national security to obstruct normal trade exchanges, and incite some countries to attack China.
Human rights in the US were at the lowest point, with black Americans being “slaughtered”, he counter-accused. US officials then insisted that they had the right to rebut because Yang’s remarks went far beyond the two minutes of opening statement that had been agreed upon. These exchanges lasted an hour after which both sides repaired for bilateral talks that appeared to be more affable. A White House official said the discussions in the first out of three planned session were “substantive, serious, and direct”.
China and the US put acrimony on public display while holding talks in a two-plus-two format that US usually reserves with its allies, US-Russia ties have been marked by rancour ever since Biden took office.
‘US uses military might to suppress others’
- China’s senior foreign policy leader Yang Jiechi accused the US of using its military might and financial supremacy to suppress other countries and abusing the notion of national security to obstruct normal trade, and incite some countries to attack China.
- Human rights in the US were at the lowest point, with black Americans being “slaughtered”, he counter-accused. These exchanges lasted an hour after which both sides repaired for bilateral talks that appeared to be more affable.
