Alaska summit: China and US far apart on hot-button issues but agree to set up climate change group as talks end

Name: Gloves off at top-level US-China summit in Alaska with on-camera sparring
Uploaded: 2021-03-19T20:58:07.000Z
Duration: 2 min 23 s
Description: Gloves off at top-level US-China summit in Alaska with on-camera sparring

China’s top diplomat calls the discussions at the Alaska summit ‘direct, frank and constructive’ but also vows to ‘safeguard our national sovereignty’

Topics meeting with resistance were Xinjiang, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Tibet and China’s actions in cyberspace, according to US secretary of state

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Yang Jiechi (centre) and Wang Yi (left) led the Chinese delegation in Anchorage, Alaska. Photo: AFP

Mark Magnierin Anchorage, Alaska

Published: 4:58am, 20 Mar 2021Updated: 1:40pm, 22 Mar 2021

China and the United States pledged to set up a working group on climate change as agreement was reached in some areas during two days of talks, though both sides noted a wide gap on many contentious issues.

After the meeting ended on Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said his team received a “defensive response” when it raised contentious issues, but added that the two sides saw areas of common interest. Top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi called the talks “direct, frank and constructive” before vowing to “safeguard our national sovereignty”.

The first high-level talks between the Chinese and President Joe Biden’s administration, in Anchorage, Alaska, ended soon after noon local time, with Beijing later releasing a statement saying the two nations would step up cooperation on climate change by establishing a “joint working group”.

Beijing also said arrangements were discussed for the countries’ diplomats and consular staff to receive Covid-19 vaccines, and to facilitate exchanges between those missions and other groups, including the media. It said travel and visa policies were also on the table, raising the prospect that restrictions could be eased.

Blinken called the talks “a very candid conversation on an expansive agenda”.

“We certainly know, and knew going in, that there are a number of areas where we are fundamentally at odds,” he said, citing Xinjiang, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Tibet and China’s actions in cyberspace. “And it was no surprise, when we raised those issues directly, we got a defensive response.”

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Gloves off at top-level US-China summit in Alaska with on-camera sparring

Blinken said the two sides also discussed areas where their interests aligned, including Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan and climate change, as well as areas of difference, such as trade and economics.