BEIJING – The top American and Chinese diplomats spoke Saturday in the first major exchange between the countries since President Joe Biden took office and touched on several critical issues that have strained their ties.
China’s top diplomat Yang Jieche and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed in a phone call the situation in Xinjiang, home to the Uighur minority whose treatment is heavily criticized in the West, as well as Hong Kong and Taiwan.
The two statements reaffirmed the different positions of the countries, which have clashed on issues from trade to Beijing’s crackdown in Hong Kong to increased U.S.