Uighur, Hong Kong issues to make for ‘difficult’ US-China talks

In advance of what the United States is forecasting will be “difficult” talks with Chinese diplomats next week, the White House said Thursday that US officials will address the “genocide” of China’s Muslim Uighur minority. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will meet their Chinese counterparts on March 18 and 19 after their first overseas trip to Japan and South Korea.UN experts and rights groups have said China has detained more than a million Uighurs and other minorities there, actions the US has deemed a genocide. Beijing has denied abuses, saying facilities in the region are for vocational training to counter the threat of terrorism. Meanwhile, the US condemned China’s moves to change Hong Kong’s electoral system, calling it a continuing assault on democracy in the territory and predicted “difficult” talks with China’s top diplomats next week.
“The changes approved by the National People’s Congress today on March 11 are a direct attack on Hong Kong’s autonomy, its freedoms and democratic processes, limiting political participation, reducing democratic representation and stifling political debate,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told a news briefing.China’s parliament on Thursday approved a draft decision to change Hong Kong’s electoral system, further reducing democratic representation in the city’s institutions and introducing a mechanism to vet politicians’ loyalty to Beijing.
Price said the US would be frank in telling China how its actions challenge US values when Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with top Chinese officials on March 18 in Alaska, the first high-level in-person contacts between the two sparring countries under the Biden administration.
Price said the US would be frank in telling China how its actions challenge US values when Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with top Chinese officials on March 18 in Alaska, the first high-level in-person contacts between the two sparring countries under the Biden administration.
“There will be some difficult conversations I would expect,” he said. “We will certainly not pull any punches in discussing our areas of disagreement,” Price said, urging Beijing to play its part in improving the frayed relationship. “We are looking for Beijing … to demonstrate that seriousness of purpose, to demonstrate that it seeks to live up to its own oft-stated desire to change the tone of the bilateral relationship.” President Joe Biden’s administration has committed to reviewing elements of US policies towards China, as the world’s two largest economies navigate relations that sank to their lowest depths in decades during Donald Trump’s presidency.
Source:aljazeera.com