Tough talk at first face-to-face US, China meeting in Biden era

At the first face-to-face talks between the US and China since President Joe Biden took office, Washington accused Beijing of "genocide" against Uyghur Muslims, while China said it "firmly opposed to US interference in China's internal affairs".

US and Chinese diplomats clashed Thursday in their first face-to-face talks since President Joe Biden took office, with the world's top two powers each digging in on a laundry list of issues on which they diverge broadly as the meeting opened in Alaska. China's actions "threaten the rules-based order that maintains global stability," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the opening of the two-day meeting in Anchorage. The US side will "discuss our deep concerns with actions by China, including Xinjiang," where Washington has accused Beijing of "genocide" against Uyghur Muslims, Blinken told the Chinese Communist Party's top diplomacy official, Yang Jiechi, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.