China Points to Black Lives Matter to Blast U.S. On Human Rights During Alaska Summit

Connor Grant | March 19, 2021
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China is now using the racial division plaguing the United States to discredit its' humanitarian efforts, saying that the U.S. is unqualified to speak to China “from a position of strength," citing “many problems” on “human rights” within the U.S. and pointing to Black Lives Matter as proof.

U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with Chinese officials on Thursday for a summit in Anchorage, Alaska, which led to a tense exchange between Blinken and Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi.

During the meeting, Blinken expressed the United States’ “deep concerns” with China’s recent human rights violations against Uyghurs, democracy advocates and foreign countries, citing problems in “Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyberattacks on the United States, [and] economic coercion toward our allies" and adding that the U.S. wants to strengthen “international rules-based order.”

Jiechi rebuked Blinken’s statement saying, "Well you can’t blame this problem on somebody else."
 

Jiechi added, 

China is firmly opposed to U.S. interference in China’s internal affairs. We have expressed our staunch opposition to such interference and we will take firm actions in response. On human rights, we hope the United States will do better on human rights. China has made steady progress in human rights, and the fact is that there are many problems within the United States regarding human rights, which is admitted by the U.S. itself as well.

...The challenges facing the United States in human rights are deep-seated. They did not just emerge over the past four years, such as “Black Lives Matter.” It did not come up only recently. So we do hope for our two countries, it is important that we manage our respective affairs well. Instead of deflecting the blame of somebody else in this world. 


Blinken went on to say that what he is hearing “is very different than what you (Jiechi) describe,' saying he instead hears “deep satisfaction that the United States is back, that we’re re-engaged with our allies and partners.” 

“I’m also hearing deep concern about some of the actions that your government is taking and we’ll have an opportunity to discuss those when we get down to work. A hallmark of our leadership, of our engagement in the world is our alliances and our partnerships that have been built on a totally voluntary basis,” Blinken continued. “And there’s one more hallmark of our leadership here at home, and that’s the constant quest to - as we say - form a more perfect union."

"And that quest by definition acknowledges our imperfections, acknowledges that we’re not perfect, we make mistakes, we have reversals, we take steps back," he continued. "But, what we’ve done throughout our history is to confront those challenges openly, publicly, transparently, not trying to ignore them, not trying to pretend they don’t exist, not trying to sweep them under a rug. And sometimes it’s painful, sometimes it’s ugly, but each and every time we’ve come out stronger, better, more united as a country.”
 

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