Allegations back and forth at the first Sino-US summit since Biden took office

In the preview, it looks like the main venue for the first high-level bilateral meeting between the United States and China: Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city. Because at the beginning of the summit the atmosphere was already foggy.

Prior to the summit, the main question was whether the United States would pursue a different – read: less difficult – approach to Beijing than it had been under President Trump. Provisional answer: It does not seem so.

The beginning of the summit was marked by back and forth accusations. This is significant because meetings like this are usually a happy exchange. Negotiations are taking place behind closed doors.

Too long talk

This time it happened differently. Inaugurated by US Secretary of State Anthony Blingen. He expressed “deep concern” over cyber attacks in Uyghur, Hong Kong, Taiwan and China and the economic persecution of US allies.

The Chinese delegation did not ignore it. Top diplomat Yang Jiechi responded with a 15-minute speech – longer than the planned 2 minutes. Let the United States look at itself before lecturing China on human rights and democracy, referring to the Black Lives Matter movement and Capital’s storm. Yang stressed that the United States speaks only for itself, not the whole world.

That would close the summit, but Blingen has something else to say. He even had cameras in the room. “In the short time I have been foreign minister, I have already talked to a hundred colleagues,” Blingen said. They noted that they were pleased that the United States was playing a more radical role in world politics than the Trump administration.

The debate continued for some time. China was disappointed by Blinken’s unplanned response, and the United States condemned Yang’s lengthy speech. With another day of negotiations, the tone is set.