China and United States to Work Together on Climate Change | Abroad

It was the first high-level meeting of the Biden government. The negotiations got off to a smooth start. Insiders spoke of “difficult and straightforward” conversations. For example, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed to Chinese discontent in a statement his concerns about Hong Kong, Taiwan and the persecution of Uyghurs.

Although no major breakthrough in bilateral relations has been made, Chinese negotiators described the talks as “frank, deep and constructive,” according to the official Chinese news agency Xinhua. The two sides “expressed their willingness to improve cooperation or coordination on climate change,” Xinhua writes.

The two countries have also reportedly indicated that they are once again open to diplomatic relations and want to continue communicating in order to avoid misunderstandings and conflicts in the future.

Last year, relations between the two countries cooled considerably, with journalists being kicked out of the country and the Chinese consulate in Houston closed, after which China followed suit with the US consulate in Chengdu.

After the two-day summit in Anchorage, China’s foreign policy chief Yang Jiechi called the negotiations “constructive and helpful. But he noted that there are “of course still differences”.