By Nicole Gaouette and Kylie Atwood, CNN
(CNN) - The United States and China fought a war of words on Monday as each side worked to establish the narrative after their last irritating high-level meetings.
An American delegation led by Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman met with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and other officials in Tianjin, China, a week after the Biden administration joined an international coalition to condemn China for its cyberattacks. global.
The State Department called the meetings "frank and open" (diplomatic code for a skirmish) and described Beijing as an international outlier that is subverting international norms, listing China's genocide in Xinjiang and its refusal to cooperate with a international research on origins. of the coronavirus.
"The undersecretary stressed that the United States welcomes stiff competition between our countries and that we intend to continue to strengthen our own competitive hand, but that we do not seek a conflict with China," said State Department spokesman Ned Price. , it's a statement. Monday.
Beijing, which described the talks as "deep and frank," responded with a torrent of condemnation. Chinese officials expressed "strong dissatisfaction" with Washington's "extremely dangerous policy of China" and accused it of hypocrisy on human rights.
'Confrontation'
Chinese Foreign Minister Zhao Lijian's spokesman said Chinese officials "demanded that the United States immediately stop interfering in China's internal affairs, stop harming China's interests and stop stepping on the red line, stop to play in the fire and stop orchestrating the group confrontation under the guise of values. "
Both countries are trying to gain an advantage as they fight to manage the world's most important bilateral relationship and set the stage for the first leadership meeting between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping that is expected at the G7 summit in October. . Despite the assertive language, both parties expressed interest in continuing the dialogue.
"The United States and China are in a period of strategic competition, relations are generally going downhill, and that trend has continued during today's talks," said Neil Thomas, China analyst at Eurasia Group, the US consulting and advisory firm. political risk. "But the fact that both parties wanted to have this meeting ... shows that both Biden and Xi Jinping They still want to put some kind of floor under the deteriorating relations, because they both know that this is the most important bilateral relationship in the world. It has significant consequences for global stability, politics, security and the economy. "
Speaking to The New York Times after their meetings, Sherman said, "In areas where we have common interests and there are large global interests, we had very substantive discussions, we shared some ideas. We will have to see where that goes."
Sherman's meetings in China followed an Asia tour with stops in Japan, Korea and Mongolia, and came as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Singapore and Secretary of State Antony Blinken flew to India, all reflecting the importance that the Biden administration is giving to Asia. .
The undersecretary's trip to Tianjin marked the first high-level meeting since a contentious meeting in March in Alaska between Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Wang and senior officials of the People's Republic of China was partially caught on camera.
Readings after the Sherman meetings indicated that the disputes in March not only remain unresolved but will continue to create friction in the future, particularly around human rights issues, in the lead-up to Beijing. host the Winter Olympicsand international attempts to determine the origin of the coronavirus.
"The Undersecretary expressed his concern in private, as we have done in public, about a series of actions by the People's Republic of China that go against our values โโand interests and those of our allies and partners, and that undermine the international order based on in rules ". Price said in a statement.
"She raised our human rights concerns, including Beijing's undemocratic crackdown in Hong Kong; the ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang; abuses in Tibet; and the restriction of media access and freedom. press, "Price continued. "He also spoke about our concerns about Beijing's conduct in cyberspace, across the Taiwan Strait, and in the East and South China Seas."
Sherman's meeting came just days after China rejected the World Health Organization's plan for a second phase of an investigation into the origin of the coronavirus.
"The undersecretary reiterated his concern about the unwillingness of the People's Republic of China to cooperate with the World Health Organization and allow a second phase of investigation in the People's Republic of China on the origins of COVID-19," Price said, and He added that Sherman also raised the issue of Americans and Canadians detained in China. under exit bans and "reminded officials of the People's Republic of China that people are not bargaining chips."
A Chinese statement on Sherman's first meeting with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng said the vice minister told Sherman that the relationship between the United States and China is due not to any of the issues raised by Sherman, but rather to the American representation of China as the "imagined enemy". . "
'Extremely dangerous'
Many of Xie's other comments appeared to be an attempt to change America's criticism of Beijing.
According to the statement, Xie also told Sherman that it is the United States that has abandoned the rules-based international order that it helped create after World War II, but that China would like to build a "new kind of international relations" built. . about "respect".
Xie also said that the United States "is not in a position to lecture China on democracy and human rights," pointing to the American genocide of Native Americans and American military action and said that the United States is the "inventor and owner of patents and property. intellectual "of coercion. Diplomacy: Another criticism Washington has often leveled at Beijing for its focus on smaller, poorer countries.
During Monday's long day of talks, spokesman Zhao told a regular news conference that China had expressed "strong dissatisfaction" with "Washington's extremely dangerous policy."
But Zhao also added that the talks were "deep and frank" and were beneficial for the healthy development of China-US relations.
And Price, a spokesman for the State Department, said that even as Sherman delivered his criticism of China's actions, "at the same time, the undersecretary affirmed the importance of cooperation in areas of global concern, such as the climate crisis, the fight against drug trafficking, non-proliferation, and regional concerns "that include North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan and Burma.
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