CYIL vol. 13 (2022)

MAX HILAIRE CYIL 13 ȍ2022Ȏ Relations between China and the United States got off to a rocky start under the Biden administration. The first high-level meeting in Anchorage, Alaska between US Secretary of State, Blinken and National Security Adviser, Sullivan, and their Chinese counterparts Yang Jiechi and Wang Yi got off to a bad start. The US criticized China’s human rights abuse in Xinjiang, its military incursions in Taiwanese airspace to intimidate Taiwan, its crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong, and China’s refusal to adhere to the rules-based international order. China in response accused the US of meddling in its internal affairs and called for the US to respect China’s sovereignty. 144 Secretary Blinken and President Biden previously labeled the treatment of the Uighurs in Xinjiang as “genocide,” which has infuriated Chinese officials. 145 In a coordinated effort with the EU, UK, and Canada, the United States imposed sanctions on two Chinese officials under the Global Magnitsky Act for their involvement in rights violations in Xinjiang. 146 In response, China imposed sanctions on ten Europeans, including members of the European Parliament, nine UK nationals, and two current members of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom. 147 The Anchorage meeting took place in a climate fraught with recrimination and mistrust. Although both sides held their grounds, they agreed there were areas for mutual cooperation and agreed to continue the dialogue. Biden’s approach to China can be viewed as weak and too narrowly focused on security issues. Biden inherited a policy debacle from the Trump administration but has had a difficult time articulating a new policy toward China. Congress’s hardline approach toward China complicates the Biden administration’s ability to forge a more conciliatory approach toward China. It makes his task of winning Chinese concessions on key foreign policy issues even more difficult. However, given the two country’s mutual economic interdependency, there is still room for cooperation on a range of issues such as climate change, combating international terrorism, and a stable international environment. There are stark differences between the US and China on human rights, free navigation in the South China Sea, China’s unfair trade practices, stealing of American intellectual property, equal access to American investors in China’s market, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which seeks to establish Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Using Prison Labor (Dec. 2, 2020), at https://www.cbp.gov/ newsroom/national-media-release/cbp-issues-detention-order-cotton-products-made-xinjiang-production [https://perma.cc/ERR8-BJTD]; DOU, E., WHALEN, J. & CHEN, A. U .S. Ban on China’s Xinjiang Cotton Fractures Fashion Industry Supply Chains, Wash. Post (Feb. 22, 2021), at https://www.washingtonpost. com/world/asia-pacific/china-cotton-sanctions-xinjiang-uighurs/2021/02/21/a8a4b128-70ee-11eb-93be c10813e358a2-story.html. 144 GRAHAM-ALLISON, E. Will a Chilly Meeting in Anchorage Set the Tone for US-China Relations ? at https:// theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/19/us-china-meeting-anchorage-tone-relations; U.S. State Dept. Press Re lease, Secretary Anthony J. Blinken, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Director Yang and State Councilor Wang at the Top of Their Meeting (Mar. 18, 2021), at https://www.state.gov/secretary-anthony-j-blinken-na tional-security-advisro--jake-sullivan-chinese-director-of-the-office-of the-central-commission-for-foreign-af fairs-yang-jiechi-and-chinese-state-councilor-wang-yi-at-th [https://perma.cc/D2GG-G848]. 145 U.S. Dept. of State Press Release, Determination of the Secretary of State on Atrocities in Xinjiang (Jan. 19, 2021), at https://2017-2021.state.gov/determination-of-the-secretary-of-state-on-atrocities-in-xinjiang/index. Html [https://perma.cc/9RBZ-KHMY]. 146 U.S. Dept. of the Treasury Press release, Treasury Sanctions Chinese Government Officials in Connection with Serious Human Rights Abuse in Xinjiang (Mar. 22, 2021), at https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/ jy0070 . 147 Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China Press Release (Mar. 22, 2021), at https://www. fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401_665405/t1863106.shtml.

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