White House on US-China Officials Meeting: The first meeting between US and Chinese officials is going to take place after Joe Biden becomes president. The meeting will be held in Anchorage, Alaska between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and their Chinese counterparts. Regarding this first face-to-face meeting, the White House has said that it does not have much hope from it. Blinken and Sullivan will meet China’s State Counselor Wang Yi and Chinese Communist Party’s foreign affairs chief Yang Jiechi on Thursday.
The US side has said that this will be an early opportunity to negotiate disagreements over human rights, trade and the global coronavirus epidemic in Tibet, Hong Kong and western Xinjiang. Prior to the meeting, a senior administrative official termed the talks as an opportunity for both sides to ‘take stock’ of the relationship. On the condition of keeping his identity confidential, the official said that the two sides will not issue any joint statement after the talks and there is no hope of any major announcement after the talks.
Had expressed concern about China
In a joint statement issued after Blinken and Defense Minister Lloyd Austin met with their Japanese counterparts in Tokyo on Tuesday, human rights violations in China’s Xinjiang province, ‘unlawful claims and activities on the maritime zone in the South China Sea’ , And raised serious concern over the ‘unilateral attempt to change the situation on Japan’s islands in the East China Sea.
Blinken-Austin left for Seoul
The two then left for Seoul on Wednesday for talks with their South Korean counterparts. The administrative official said that the administration wanted to hold talks with its allies before the high-level talks with China on US soil (US on China). It also includes a digital meeting of the leaders of the Quad Group member countries Australia, India, Japan and the US last month.
What did China say?
China has expressed its displeasure with the US and Japan. It has opposed the joint statement of the two countries on human rights, calling it a ‘malicious attack’ on its foreign policy and serious interference in China’s internal affairs. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said, “China is very dissatisfied with the statement and strongly opposes it.”
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