The summit between American and Chinese officials quickly went sideways when both sides leveled accusations in their two-minute opening remarks. Most outlets reported the confrontation as an omen of difficulties in the future.
Summary
In the first meeting between officials from the United States and China, tensions sizzled as verbal barbs and accusations were publicly traded.
- The summit in Anchorage, Alaska highlighted the growing number of concerns the United States has over issues ranging from human rights abuses to China’s military expansion.
- Things got off on the wrong foot immediately as both sides accused the other of “grandstanding” in the opening remarks of the summit.
- When Secretary of State (and aspiring rock star) Antony Blinken raised concerns over Uighur Muslims, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, the Chinese delegation accused the United States of not living up to their own democratic standards, referencing allegations of improprieties in the 2020 presidential election.
- The tough talk from the Biden administration is reportedly being well received by Democrats and Republicans in Congress, who are working together on legislation to counter China’s goals of economic and technological dominance.
- While the verbal confrontations dominated headlines and coverage in right and left outlets, CNN emphasized the Biden administration’s efforts to try to turn the page from “Trump administration’s transactional, trade-oriented, go-it-alone approach.”
- Coverage of the summit in The New York Times referenced the Biden administration having come to the same conclusions as the Trump administration in terms of the economic and cybersecurity fronts.
- While nearly all outlets emphasized China’s human rights abuses in its western provinces, cybersecurity attacks on the West, and Beijing’s effective takeover of Hong Kong, Vox highlighted the opportunities China and the U.S. have in collaborating on climate change.
- RedState’s Nick Arama characterized the meeting as disastrous for the United States, saying China used “Democrats’ propaganda” against them, referencing the Black Lives Matter Movement.
- Tucker Carlson’s hot take expounded on the Biden administration’s domestic and foreign priorities in relation to the US-China summit. He referenced and explained the Chinese neologism “baizuo”, a term used by Chinese state media to describe western politicians who “only care about topics such as immigration, minorities, LGBT and the environment, who have no sense of real problems in the real world.”
- The American Spectator had a radical outlook, blaming the Biden administration’s envoys for blowing up talks before they began in their opening remarks, saying “Blinken looked like a deer in the headlights” after Chinese officials responded to his criticism in his two-minute opening statement.
© Dallas Gerber, 2021