U.S. tells China it does not seek conflict, but will stand up for principles, friends

Chinese and U.S. flags flutter outside the building of an American company in Beijing, China January 21, 2021. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang

ANCHORAGE  – The Biden administration began its first high-level face-to-face talks with key rival China on Thursday, saying that Chinese actions threaten a global order based on rules and vowing that Washington would also stand up for its friends.

“We do not seek conflict, but we welcome stiff competition, and we will always stand up for our principles, for our people, and for our friends,” the U.S. national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said at the start of talks with Chinese counterparts in Alaska.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken told China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, and State Councilor Wang Yi in Anchorage that the U.S. side would discuss its “deep concerns” about Chinese actions in Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as cyber attacks on the United States and economic coercion of allies.

“Each of these actions threaten the rules-based order that maintains global stability,” he said.

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