Ahead of a high-level meeting between Chinese and American diplomats in Alaska, China’s
Foreign Ministry on Thursday clarified it will not concede on integral issues like Xinjiang and Hong Kong. US Secretary
of State Antony Blinken and White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan
will meet senior Chinese official Yang Jiechi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Alaska, AFP
reported.

“China
has no room for compromise on issues concerning its sovereignty, security and
core interests,” foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters after their diplomats landed in Alaska.

Zhao also urged the US against talking tough and engaging in “megaphone
diplomacy” toward China after Washington said it intended to show firmness against Beijing after a round of alliance-building across Asia.

The meeting, which marks the first highest-level face-to-face diplomatic conversation between the two countries since incumbent US President Joe Biden assumed control, is a platform for China to reset the ties between the two nations, which took an unpleasant turn during the former President Donald Trump’s tenure and led to a rampaging trade war and friction over key issues like defence, tech and human rights in Hong Kong.

The
American diplomats on the other hand are aiming to be on the front foot in the talks, said an AFP report citing US officials.

The
US has deep concerns regarding the treatment of the Uighur minority in Xinjiang and human rights violation in Hong Kong and the state is willing to express that, said officials.

Apart from that Chinese “economic
coercion” and Beijing’s “increasingly aggressive” stance towards
Taiwan will also be a topic of conversation.

These are the issues China has previously defended as domestic affairs and matters
of national sovereignty.