Top officials from the US and China are meeting in Alaska next week on a range of issues

Quite simply, this is an important opportunity for us to outline in very frank terms the many concerns we have about Beijing’s actions and behavior that call into question the security, prosperity and values ​​of the United States, Mr. Blinken told the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He said the talks would also explore areas for collaboration.

Topics include the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change and disagreement, including China’s stance on Hong Kong and pressure on Taiwan, and the “undeclared economic embargoes” that China has imposed on Australia, a senior government official said. The US will also discuss Chinese practices considered harmful to American workers and peasants, as well as intellectual property theft, forced transfer of technology and human rights, the official said.

The Chinese Embassy did not respond to a request for comment. Beijing has been calling for a meeting between senior officials since December, contacting the Biden administration after relations deteriorated under former President Donald Trump.

The sit-down comes as the outline of the Biden government’s Chinese policy takes shape. Part of it is aimed at strengthening the US economic competitiveness and its lead in advanced technologies such as semiconductors. Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer (D., NY) recently mandated committee chairmen to draft legislation to promote investment in US research and manufacturing, including semiconductor manufacturing, increasing administration.

Enlisting the support of allies is also crucial to the government’s strategy, which presents a more united front to counter Beijing’s more assertive economic, foreign and military policies.

On Friday, Mr. Biden will host a virtual summit with other leaders of the so-called Quad, a strategic group seen as a bulwark against Chinese expansionism that includes Australia, Japan and India.

A focal point of the summit will be reaching an agreement to significantly increase the manufacturing capacity of Covid-19 vaccines in India, the Biden administration official said. Those vaccines, the official said, will then be given to other countries in Asia. Beijing has distributed vaccines produced in China to developing countries to combat the pandemic and increase its impact.

Before meeting with Chinese officials, Mr. Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will also visit Japan and South Korea. The Biden administration recently entered into agreements with Tokyo and Seoul based on US forces. The cabinet secretaries’ visits next week will be their first overseas trips since taking office and, the State Department said, are designed to underscore America’s commitment to these alliances and the security of the region.

“It was important to us that this administration’s first meeting with Chinese officials on US soil was held and took place after we met and consulted closely with partners and allies in both Asia and Europe,” said White’s press secretary Jen Psaki. House.

Asian countries are also wary of getting caught up in a battle between China, a major investor and market for their goods, and the US, whom they rely on for their safety. For example, the US has offered rhetorical support to Australia, where China has halted imports of Australian coal, wine and other goods due to Canberra’s call for an independent investigation into how China was dealing with the rise of the coronavirus.

The personal talks in Anchorage will be the first between senior US-China representatives in more than eight months, following a bitter meeting in Hawaii between then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Yang Jiechi, China’s senior foreign affairs official and a member of the Chinese leadership.

Years of tense relations were cut short last year when the Trump administration stepped up its efforts to reduce China’s global influence, bolster support for partners such as Taiwan and confront Beijing over alleged espionage, the crackdown on Hong Kong and in China. the Muslim region of Xinjiang, and other policies considered contrary to US interests.

Chinese diplomats have sought a meeting for Mr. Yang with a top Biden official as soon as possible, in an effort to discuss the new government’s policies and stabilize relations. Mr. Yang will be joined by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in the meetings with Messrs. Blinken and Sullivan, officials said.

The Biden government has vowed to take a firm approach to trade, technology, security and other issues while seeking areas for cooperation. Washington and Beijing will jointly chair a G-20 study group focusing on climate-related financial risks. The US has not named their representative, but for the Chinese it will be Ma Jun, a World Bank veteran and former chief economist at the People’s Bank of China, who is an expert on environmentally sustainable finance.

While putting together his foreign policy, Mr. Biden weeks after taking office to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The Feb. 10 talk lasted two hours, the White House said, and covered topics from trade, climate and Covid-19 to human rights and regional security.

“I told him I will work with China if it benefits the American people,” tweeted Mr. Biden after that. Xi also pledged to cooperate, telling his counterpart that a confrontation between the two powers would be a disaster according to Chinese media.

US attitudes towards China are shifting amid a constant stream of criticism from lawmakers in both parties. More than a third of Americans said China posed the greatest threat to the US in a study sponsored by the Ronald Reagan Foundation and Institute and released Wednesday. That was compared to 21% in 2018.

The survey, which asked about 2,500 Americans about national security issues between February 4 and February 14, also found that the Americans saw Russia as a minor security threat since 2018, going from 30% to 16%.

The survey, conducted by Beacon Research and Shaw and Company Research, also found that 28% of Americans believe the US should prioritize its military assets over Asia, compared to the Middle East, which ranked second by 21%.

—William Mauldin and Nancy Youssef contributed to this article.

Write to Alex Leary at [email protected] and Bob Davis at [email protected]