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BEIJING – Chinese officials on Friday (March 19) accused their US counterparts of talking for too long, being “inhospitable” and violating diplomatic protocol in high-level bilateral talks, state media reported.
China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi are in Anchorage, Alaska, to meet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. in the Biden administration’s first in-person conversations.
But the two-day meeting got off to a rocky start with both sides having different versions of the meeting, and Chinese state media sent out a series of reports and alerts exposing the Chinese version of events after the first round of talks ended.
China was prepared to conduct the dialogue “sincerely” as agreed in advance, the Chinese delegation told state broadcaster CCTV in a briefing after the first round of talks.
“But the US side, which began to speak first, severely exceeded the time allotted for its opening remarks, made unreasonable attacks and accusations on China’s internal and external policies and sparked disputes,” said an official.
“This is not the way to treat your guests and it violates diplomatic protocols.”
In his opening remarks, Mr. Yang emphasized that the United States was not qualified to speak condescendingly with China, and that dealing with China must be based on mutual respect.
“History will show that it is oneself who suffers in the end if a stubborn strategy is used with China,” Yang said, according to CCTV.
Yang criticized the United States ‘human rights record at home and abroad, citing how African Americans were being “massacred” and the United States’ record of using force to “overthrow other regimes” and “massacre people from other countries “.
Chinese social media was rife with nationalistic comments praising diplomats, mostly in videos of Yang’s comments telling the United States not to be patronizing.
“Show (the US) that you can’t play with China,” wrote a comment on Weibo similar to Twitter, in response to a video of the meeting.
This “unprecedented” open confrontation between the two countries is a moment of “great symbolism,” wrote newspaper editor Hu Xijin, who heads the state tabloid Global Times.
“It tells Americans to stop pretending they can point the finger at China. That era is over, ”he wrote on Weibo.
There was also much talk about the fact that the protocol officers tried to remove the journalists after the opening statements, but Mr. Blinken called them back in, wanting their response to Mr. Yang to be heard.
Chinese analysts, however, cautioned against over-reading the events, which they saw as “necessary” for the relationship to move forward.
Three facets – competition, tension and cooperation – shaped the relationship between the United States and China, said government adviser Zhu Feng, and the events in Anchorage only highlighted part of that.
“A heated exchange does not mean that the relationship between the United States and China is crumbling, this is to be expected … the important thing is how the cooperation can continue amid the tension and rhetoric while both sides work to restore the relationship” Said Professor Zhu, who is also dean of the Institute of International Studies at Nanjing University.
In addition, much of the messages had been for national audiences, he added.
“(Secretary of State) Blinken knows that he needs to make sure that Republicans cannot accuse him of being soft on China … while the Chinese side also has to be accountable to the Chinese people.”
A second session of talks is underway with a third round scheduled for Friday morning local time.
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