These are the highlights of the heated US-China exchange in Alaska

Talks between the United States and China began harshly on Thursday, with the two sides mocking and mutual recriminating in an unusual public display of tensions.

The Anchorage, Alaska meeting was the first high-level meeting between the two countries under the administration of President Joe Biden and took place after more than two years of rocky relations between the two countries.

What was initially supposed to be a four-minute photo shoot ended for more than an hour as both sides exchanged barbarities over issues of US-China relations with concerns from Washington’s allies. Journalists were told not to leave as both sides wanted to add their rebuttals.

The U.S. delegation was led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councilor Wang Yi and Yang Jiechi, director of the Central Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Chinese Communist Party, led the Chinese delegation.

Here are some excerpts and highlights from the meeting:

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken:
I said the U.S. relationship with China will be competitive where it should be collaborative, words can be contradictory, where it should be. I suspect our discussions here in Alaska will work. Our intention is to be direct about our concerns, direct about our priorities, with the aim of a clearer relationship between our countries.

… I have to tell you in my short time as Secretary of State, I have spoken, I think, to almost 100 counterparts around the world. And I just made my first trip, as I pointed out, to Japan and South Korea. I have to tell you that what I hear is very different from what you have described. I am deeply pleased that the United States has returned, because we are committed to our allies and partners. I am also deeply concerned about some of the actions your government is taking.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi:
China has certainly not accepted unjustified accusations by the United States in the past and in the future. In recent years, China’s legitimate rights and interests have been completely suppressed and plunged China-US relations into a period of unprecedented hardship.

… China urges the US side to completely abandon the practice of hegemony to intervene voluntarily in China’s internal affairs. This is a long-standing issue and should be changed. It’s time to change.

Chinese Director of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission, Yang Jiechi
China and the United States are the two most important countries and both show important responsibilities. We must both contribute to world peace, stability and development, in areas such as Covid-19, restoring economic activities in the world and responding to climate change.

There are many things we can do together and where our interests converge. So what we need to do is abandon the Cold War mentality and zero-sum game approach.

Flash:
We will also talk about our deep concerns with China’s actions, including Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyberattacks in the United States, economic coercion toward our allies. Each of these actions threatens the rule-based order that maintains global stability.

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan:
Secretary of State Blinken outlined many of the areas of concern, from economic and military coercion to the attack on core values, which we will talk to you about today and in the coming days.

… We have heard each of these concerns from around the world, from our allies and partners and from the international community at large during the intensive consultations we have conducted over the past two months. Today we will make it clear that our top priority on the part of the United States is to ensure that our focus on the world and our focus on China benefits the American people and protects the interests of our allies and partners.

We do not seek conflict, but we embrace stiff competition and will always uphold our principles for our people and our friends.

This:
It is also important that we all come together to build a new kind of international relationship, with equity, justice and mutual respect. And on some regional issues, I think the problem is that the United States has exercised long jurisdiction and suppression and has spread too far.

… The United States itself does not represent international public opinion, nor does the Western world. Judging by the demographic scale and the trend of the world, the Western world does not represent world public opinion. So we hope that when we talk about universal values ​​or international public opinion on the part of the United States, we expect the American side to think about whether it feels reassured by saying these things because the U.S. does not represent the world. It only represents the United States government.

Sullivan:
Secretary Blinken and I are proud of the story about the United States that we can tell here, about a country that under the leadership of President Biden has made great strides in controlling the pandemic, rescuing our economy, and asserting the strength and power of our democracy. We are particularly proud of the work we have done to revitalize our alliances and partnerships, the foundation of our foreign policy.

This:
And the United States has its own style, democracy in the style of the United States. And China has Chinese-style democracy. It depends not only on the American people, but also on the people of the world, to assess how the United States has done in advancing its own democracy. In the case of China, after decades of reforms and openings, we have come a long way in various fields.

… We believe it is important for the United States to change its own image and stop advancing in its own democracy to the rest of the world. In fact, many people in the United States have little confidence in U.S. democracy and have diverse views on the U.S. government in China.

flash:

A distinctive sign of our leadership, of our commitment to the world are our alliances and partnerships that had been built entirely voluntarily. And it’s something President Biden is committed to invigorating and strengthening. And there is one more seal of our leadership here at home and it is a constant search to, as we say, form a more perfect union.

And this research, by definition, recognizes our imperfections and recognizes that we are not perfect. We make mistakes. We, we have reversals, we take steps back. But what we have done throughout our history is address these challenges in an open, public, and transparent manner. Don’t try to ignore them. Don’t try to pretend they don’t exist. Do not try to sweep them under the carpet. And sometimes it’s painful. Sometimes it’s ugly. But we have come out stronger, better, more united as a country.

I remember well when President Biden was vice president and we were visiting China … and Vice President Biden at the time said it is never a good bet to bet against the United States. And that is still true today.