option and generosity it's suggested finland's relative success in curbing coronavirus may have helped. i think everywhere in the world and in finland us well of course people have been suffering and the pen damage has really costing science and concrete problems but again i think in finland and in the nordic countries people are really lucky and have been lucky because the society still supports this sort of the system of these kinds of shocks most people don't have to completely worry about losing their livelihood or not having access to health care. in the headlines on al-jazeera our high level talks between china and the u.s. have now ended in alaska without a significant breakthrough both sides head out of the other's policies in front of the cameras revealing tensions over human rights and economic power. we certainly. knew going in. there are

a number of areas where we are fundamentally. transactions. with regard to hong kong tibet and priestley taiwan as well as actions that it's taking. in cyberspace. and. it's no surprise that when we raise those issues clearly and directly we got a defensive response u.s. president says asian americans have been attacked and scapegoated joe biden and his vice president have been visiting the state of georgia talking to community leaders 8 people were killed in a mass shooting on tuesday 6 of the victims were women of asian descent. president taking several of his country states to court to try and force them to overturn lockdown restrictions 90000 new cases were registered on thursday the 1st time that barrier has been passed. a volcano has erupted in iceland southwest it's situated

in the middle of a peninsula between the capital reykjavik in the international airports a no fly zone has been set up with all flights in and out of the airport halted the eruption had been expected a u.s. judge has rejected an attempt to postpone the murder trial of a police officer charged with the death of george floyd last week the city of minneapolis agreed to pay 27 $1000000.00 to floyd's family lawyers for dairy children had argued the highly publicized settlement jeopardize his chance of a fair trial it's been a difficult year for most about a report on the happiest countries suggest the pandemic hasn't crushed people's spirits finland has topped the list for the 4th year in a row followed by 8 other european countries and new zealand the report ranks 149 nations we'll have more news at the top of the hour right here on al-jazeera for now its inside story.

the united states and china attempt to mend time but talks get off to a fiery start each accusing the other of grandstanding and hypocrisy so what can the meeting in alaska achieve and how will that affect the friends and foes of the superpowers this is inside story. hello and welcome to the program i'm how much i enjoy him alaska is often known as the last frontier in the u.s.

the state near the arctic provided an icy backdrop to a meeting aimed at resetting frosty relations with china but hopes of a fall quickly melted away at the start of the talks washington and beijing's top diplomats traded sharp rebuke for an hour the exchange highlighted big differences on everything from global security to trade and human rights are diplomatic editor james bass reports from anchorage. this is a meeting that will shape future relations between the world's 2 biggest powers relations that are currently at a low point good afternoon. and welcome normally opening remarks at events like these a brief and polite but the u.s. side went on to list their specific concerns and since wrong hong kong taiwan cyber attacks on the united states economic coercion toward our allies the chinese response was long and just as frank the foreign minister wang ye said you don't

welcome guests with sanctions a reference to the black listing of 24 chinese and hong kong officials in the hours before the meeting his senior colleague politburo member yang jiechi was clearly unhappy. well i think we thought too well of the united states we thought the u.s. side would follow the necessary diplomatic protocols he went on to complain about regime change in the middle east and the us is only human rights record and yet the challenges facing the us and human rights are deep seated they did not emerge over the past 4 years the slaughter of black people the problem existed for a long time police are the word slaughter was not translated into english for those in the room by the chinese delegations interpreter on one second please journalists were about to be ushered out when the secretary of state made it clear his delegation wanted to speak again i just made my 1st trip as i noted to panick

south korea. i have to tell you what i'm hearing is very different from what you describe. i'm hearing deep satisfaction that the united states is back there were reengage with our allies and partners i'm also hearing deep concern about some of the actions your government is taking a confident country is able to look hard at its own shortcomings and constantly seek to improve and that is the secret sauce of america alaska is a midway point just over 6000 kilometers to beijing just under 6000 kilometers to washington d.c. this was a meeting that was supposed to build bridges but what we've seen here could be a welcome clearing of the air or perhaps the beginning of a deepening of the division it all depends on the crucial talks which now continue behind closed doors james is out zira and courage. in the lead up to the meeting

china's neighbors expressed concerns to the u.s. secretary of state and anthony blinken criticized china's threats to reasonal security in visits to south korea and japan a week earlier the u.s. india japan and australia held a summit of the so-called quad group china's growing influence in the asia pacific region drove much of the discussion although the final communique didn't mention beijing it did voice support for the rule of law democracy and a region unconstrained by coercion. all right let's bring in our guests from washington d.c. scott snyder senior fellow for korea studies and director of the u.s. korea policy program at the council on foreign relations. in beijing melinda liu beijing bureau chief for newsweek and in kuala lumpur is far kim bang founder of strategic pan indo-pacific arena and former director of political and security community in the asean secretary it thank you all for joining us scott let me start

with you today this was quite a tense confrontation at the beginning of the meeting between the u.s. and china how unexpected was that i don't know that it was necessarily that unexpected because the biden missed ration. has spent a week streaming in its engagement. in asia and tours china with the expectation that there are areas of confrontation there is of cooperation . and that there is going to be an adversarial components to the relationship that will persist from the trumpet ministration and that is actually somewhat different from what we saw under obama the last time that this team was engaged melinda's the fact that the beginning of these talks was so confrontational and the fact that confrontation was actually on camera that it was made public does that suggest to

you that the discussions behind the scenes will be even more contentious i mean can there actually be a reset in the u.s. china relations at this point. i'm skeptical about the possibility of a total reset there are a lot of intractable differences of opinion and disagreements and disputes however i kind of think that both sides were. you know playing a game of one upmanship and gamesmanship actually for quite a while even leading up to anchorage as well as right before the talk i mean clearly they are the analysts for a lot of that. maneuvering and circling and but no you know tech for tatting at the beginning was the domestic audiences back home not necessarily each other i wouldn't be at all surprised if you know we have when we have another special

session or talks i wouldn't be surprised if at the end of it. you know they came out kind of ok and maybe over in the coming months there might be some some incremental signs of further engagement i mean the key thing here is to keep talking if the whole thing breaks down and there is no more talking then i think we should all take cover far from your perspective what are the biggest hurdles that need to be cleared in in trying to improve the diplomatic relationship between the u.s. and china right now well even a lot to summarize this i know u.s. relationship in my own does the math that i would say that both countries actually seeking to assert yet the preponderance you not i would spoil the indo-pacific that's the 1st key the 2nd one is all countries all also engage in

trade terry wall and then there's also that component which is the technology wall china is unlike what we know 20 or 40 years ago china is actually the. getting stronger and stronger even though one obvious semiconductor chips still have to be in all of that from brock they're full of dimension that actually affect the relationship is what i call it here i'm in like issue in other words the struggle over 'd each use touching on. our own cause. perhaps even taiwan all to bat in other words there's a heavy component or element of human rights contention but. the next issue would be. i want in china conflict. because the chinese communist party was formed in 1901 and this is the centennial

the rhetoric has been increased 'd and the language of presidency jinping has all soul changed a little bit in the sense that noone presidency jingping this not forth that's not completely false a the possibility of using war to unify with taiwan and then lastly. you can see that this is a contention between the ballot dalian in an open society of open slight society with the west always japan or south korea scott countries in the region have been airing grievances to the u.s. about china so how do they expect the u.s. to bring this up with china and what response do they hope that will be coming from beijing. well i think the main point here is that they are

expecting that the u.s. is going to stand for the values that it. sounds i think that the way that secretary blinken. has addressed it is concern about greater repression internally in china and greater aggression xterm only. and so 'd this is a list of areas of cooperation one is the broader trade competition that we can see frames through the quads in terms of i guess condemning diplomacy and promotion of vaccines but i actually think that the most important thing that u.s. allies are looking for is u.s. porche to stand against aggressor ver unfair trade retaliation or economic kalish and by china and the most recent focal point for that is really and the china australia relationship of so myers really perked up when i heard

secretary blinken you know focused on that set of issues the other is related to values i think are familiar there are areas of deep disagreement in many cases because china has tried to delineate them as internal issues but they are definitely part of a deepening values competition between the u.s. and china more broadly melinda are countries in the region the hopeful that a reset in the relationship between the u.s. and china would really work in their favor. i think each country has to be thinking that that's that's in their national interest i think that i think some of the smaller countries around the periphery of china are concerned about how it's going to play out. it it's a it this is there's a profound difference here in terms of how beit beijing and washington each look

at this relationship. $11.00 side china takes a very very long term view for hours in washington you can't really predict much more than 4 years ahead of time which is why we've got this strange and intense disconnect now and obviously there had been once upon a time there had been some areas of cooperation or potential cooperation between china and america while having some very very serious disagreements what's now to what is there to persuade chinese officials that 4 years from now come another presidential election a washington there might be a whole nother trump like turn around and everything gets upset and has to start all over again and that that cannot be ruled out i'm not saying trump himself would come back but. the political dynamic that created him is is is

not has not gone away far i saw you nodding along to a lot of women linda was saying did you want to jump in well i do and jump in and i just want to say that. they must compliment melinda full saying i'm saying that because. we can we really can't expect what will happen in 2024 in terms of american election presidential congressional but then we also have to buy in might 820202020 fall is perhaps one of the most crucial. of these decade because you will just have you know in a nationwide election in united states you wrote a slight for united states you have a not a one in india you have. election in taiwan presidential election in taiwan you also have election in iran. in

southeast asia we have another election presidential election in indonesia. and the lease goes on and on so if biden and this regime is concerned about defending the mocker sea and shaping its and highest. indo-pacific strategy as a concert of the diplomacy then president joe biden and his team his into china pacific theme is practically the lodges in the national security council will have a lot on its belly scott where do things stand right now when it comes to the relationship between the u.s. and south korea and how does that impact south korea's relationship with china. well i think that that component of secretary billikens travel was very interesting precisely because china was not mentioned in the public statements

in contrast to the emphasis on china and japan and i think that that fact illustrates the sensitivity of south korea's balancing act between the u.s. and china. probably reflects some differences in terms of preferred instruments in approach and of course south korea also is now sitting outside the quiet even though it is a robust democracy and so that also i think. raises questions. are going to be hashed out i think over time and then of course there's the fact that this whole trip was really framed focusing on china and south korea's main security preoccupation as the threat from north korea. and we saw the north koreans essentially voicing. the possibility that it's going to be very difficult to renew

a dialogue on 2 nuclearization with north korea and so that is going to be a potential irritant it's it's an x. factor that actually could up and the entire china focus strategy that the by the administration has laid out well in that we've spoken a lot here today about areas of disagreement between the u.s. and china but i want to speak for a moment about areas of common interest i want to cite an article that you wrote just a few days back for foreign policy in which you said that despite all the disagreements between china and the u.s. we could start to see cooperation from both countries on the issue of climate change and that the relationship between john kerry who's the special u.s. presidential envoy for climate he's also a former secretary of state and president xi jinping could make a difference there why is that. well 1st of all these are 2 people who know each other very well in fact we have some very interesting relationships that go back

many many years the most important to being between president biden and president xi who spent an extraordinary amount of time. for that level of chinese and of an american officials when each of them was the vice president of their country and lots of one on one conversations and then as you mentioned we have. each country now has named a climate and boy america for the 1st time has elevated this position to be a special presidential envoy and that is john kerry the former secretary of state as you were as you mentioned and in china it is a senior chinese climate. expert who had been in semi retirement he had basically been the architect of china to china's

negotiating stance in the run up to the paris accords. he and his counterpart in the united states todd stern 1st had their agreement which laid the groundwork for the paris accords and and kerry all has already. recall that he needs known this guy she had john is his name they've known each other for 20 years and so because climate change is a common global problem i mean they're sitting there and alaska where the glaciers are melting at our record right because of global climate change. there's a there's a possibility for common ground it might take a while to get to that to that issue because there are so many other pressing and more urgent issues to discuss but. it's one glimmer of hope and a very tense relationship for i want to talk for

a moment about an issue that concerns the asean countries when it comes to the south china sea and china's military zation of the seaway where do things stand when it comes to that issue right now well tricycle. when anyone wants to understand china sea they should not get all true about where. they were and all the delegations get it together to have a working group session when the meeting is at the working group level even if you have a structure that is rather strong perhaps read and false and mccann isn't the foreign minister or the president who may not like the language of the draft me walk it a dollar bat and a very simple example being what one he once said he said ideally he would like to

see the solve china sea code of conduct being conklin by 2021 and some us on its off states and foreign ministers were not really sure whether he meant by the end of 2021 or is it. to prevent it from going any further so. it takes a lot of deploy it practice a lot accent on this than what really that has and how us ian uses west and me knowledge in international relations 'd in a completely different way confidence doing in our c.n.n. does not have very fight and trust it's all 'd about information sharing and trust beauty and booking scott president biden has made it clear he wants to return the u.s.

to his traditional multi-lateralism and reconstitute the alliance of the west to present a united front to china can that be achieved. well that's the experiment he's coming back to bringing the united states back to kind of the status quo ante in terms of consumption of u.s. international leadership but as we've already discussed the world has changed the u.s. has changed i think that on this trip the the main purpose in japan and south korea was take was to take the measure of how much allies have changed and there's an emergence of a new sokol point with china and all those are potential. stress points for testing the viability that foreign policy vision so you know i think that the framing is there now and we're going to have to see plays out melinda look to me like he wanted to perhaps jump in and add to what scott was saying please go ahead oh no i

didn't i didn't mean i mean to say that i was just i'm sort of nodding my of my agreement well let me ask you this melinda let me ask you this last week's virtual meeting of the quad these are the leaders of the u.s. japan australia and india how was that perceived by chinese officials. well the propaganda in china was all that you know this this attempt to make the quad a real sort of security group is is doomed to fail they see it as a vehicle for containing china but our vehicle without many wheels because it it had a you know look let's just say it's insensitive inception a number of years ago it hadn't really got off the ground very very very assertively. the issue now is that. washington and the biden administration you know are declaring america is back

but we can't just erase what 4 years of. almost isolate the cause of the isolationism. quixotic foreign policy making. and all that under the trump administration in 4 years china in its own relentless way. did what it could to take advantage of. the default position of the trumpet ministration which was you know we don't really care about the rest of the world it's america 1st and so the allies of course there are some very traditional strong allies in the pacific but you know when when china is right there on your border right there you know across the. a small body of water and america is quite a long ways away you've got to be wondering. you know if there were another trump

on the herat the trump like figure on the horizon where do we want to put our eggs in this basket you know we saw it with the e.u. in terms of trade you know and in the last days of the trumpet most ration china and the e.u. had. agreed had made a major trade agreement. that was not in step. you know the the game plan that the that america would have liked to see. all right we've run out of times we're going to have to leave the conversation there thank you so much to all of our guests scott snyder melinda liu and for kim bang. and thank you too for watching you can see this in all our previous programs again any time by visiting our website al-jazeera dot com and for further discussion go to our facebook page that's facebook dot com forward slash a.j. inside story you can also join the conversation on twitter we are at a.j.

inside story for me i'm a gentleman the whole team here for now. is really is a bracing for a 4th election in 2 years benjamin netanyahu is facing a new set of challenges with a new message vote for the man who brought the vaccine to be enough to secure israel's longest serving prime minister a decisive win. join us for special coverage of the israeli election on al-jazeera . one there one east returns to christ

church to find out how those most affected are coping. and surviving a massacre on al-jazeera. mixing the traditional with the modern nobody knew what to expect ignoring cost of i guess the only thing with united there was the music group yusuf to the speakers wielding the power of music to turn up the volume on india's social injustices when i saw the performance or resign and shake things out we went on stage or something regardless to just something that's witness causeless collective on al-jazeera. that america is a region of the wonder of joy of tragedy and violence but it doesn't matter where you are you have to be able to relate to the human condition. i. took the

way. i've been covering all of latin america for most of my career but no country is alike and it's my job to spread light on how and why. this is all just there i'm doubting you know with a check on your world headlines high level talks with 3 in china and the u.s. that began with an acrimonious public exchange have ended in a lasco with no significant breakthrough both sides say the meeting was constructive but admit they remain at odds over many issues our diplomatic out of our james bays reports from anchorage the chinese delegation arriving for a 2nd day of these talks. on face to face again.