U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan (right) speak to the media after their talks with Chinese Communist Party representatives in Alaska on March 19.
Top Chinese and U.S. officials wrapped up their 2-day face-to-face meeting in Alaska on Friday (March 19) with no joint statement; while both sides said the talks were useful, they remained on their own and did not even mention follow-up talks.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with Yang Jiechi, Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Anchorage, Alaska, Thursday through Friday (18-19).
This was the first meeting between the highest-ranking U.S. and Chinese officials since President Joe Biden took office; it is also believed to be the first Time that the two sides have tested each other’s boundaries.
After the first meeting on Thursday began with a hard-fought battle in front of the cameras, the next two meetings were extraordinarily low-key.
Senior U.S. officials ended the talks on Friday by describing them as useful, but did not say whether the two sides had reached any specific agreements or which were areas of mutual interest.
The official, who chose to remain anonymous, told Reuters that areas of cooperation included North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan and climate change, but was not aware of any agreements between the two sides.
Yang Jiechi also told official Chinese Communist Party media CGTN after the meeting that the two-day talks were frank, constructive and useful, but that some important differences remained.
A subsequent communication issued by Xinhua, the official media of the Communist Party, showed what appeared to be a series of outcomes from the talks, specifically that both sides wanted to continue high-level strategic communication and to reach consensus on vaccinations for the new crown, consular activities, and visa and travel liberalization.
Below is a comparison of the content of the U.S. and Chinese announcements following the Alaska meeting.
Table 1 Comparison of U.S. and Chinese announcements following the Alaska meeting
U.S. Announcement Chinese AnnouncementCore Concerns, Issues to be Addressed There were “fundamental” differences in a number of areas, including the CCP’s actions in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Tibet, and increasingly on Taiwan and cyber attacks; when the U.S. raised these concerns clearly and directly, they were met with a defensive response from the Chinese side. The Communist announcement devoted significant space to repeating past criticism of the U.S. and included the time-out wolf comments made by Yang Jiechi and Wang Yi in their opening remarks on day one
U.S. and China continue high-level communications The U.S. side did not mention in what way it would follow up. Sullivan: “We will continue to work with China going forward.” Both sides want to continue this high-level strategic communication. The two sides agreed to maintain dialogue and communication, carry out mutually beneficial cooperation, prevent misunderstandings and miscalculations, avoid conflict and confrontation, and promote the healthy and stable development of U.S.-China relations in accordance with the spirit of the Feb. 11 call between the two heads of state.
Climate Change Cooperation Blinken: “On Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan, and climate, our interests are intertwined.” Both sides are committed to strengthening dialogue and cooperation in the area of climate change, and both sides will establish a joint U.S.-China climate change working group.
Taiwan Issues No specific mention The U.S. side reaffirmed its adherence to the one-China Policy on the Taiwan issue.
Vaccines No specific mention The two sides explored reciprocal arrangements for vaccination of their respective diplomatic and consular personnel against the new crown vaccine.
Consular work, media correspondents No specific mention The two sides will discuss issues related to facilitating the activities of each other’s diplomatic and consular offices and personnel, as well as media correspondents, in a spirit of reciprocity.
Travel and visas The briefing issued on the evening of the 18th mentioned that the Biden Administration is open to easing some of the visa restrictions imposed on Chinese citizens during the Trump era The two sides discussed adjusting relevant travel and visa policies in light of the Epidemic situation and gradually promoting the normalization of U.S.-China personnel exchanges.
Iran, Afghanistan Sullivan: Will consult on Iran, Afghanistan and other issues through normal diplomatic channels. The two sides also discussed economic and trade, the two militaries, law enforcement, humanities, health, cyber security and a range of issues such as climate change, Iranian nuclear, Afghanistan, the Korean Peninsula, Burma and agreed to maintain and strengthen communication and coordination.
Canceling tariffs and sanctioning Chinese Communist Party officials who persecute human rights The briefing issued on the evening of the 18th mentioned that the U.S. side is not open to China’s request to ease tariffs and relax sanctions on Chinese Communist Party officials.
On economic, trade and technology issues, we told the other side that we are reviewing these issues in close consultation with Congress and with our allies and partners,” Blinken said on the 19th. We will continue to move forward on a path that fully protects and promotes the interests of workers and businesses.”
No specific mention
Based on the U.S. Department of State website and a news release from Xinhua, the official media of the Communist Party of China.
Recent Comments