BALI — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he met on Saturday in Bali, with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi "for a little over five hours."

During a news conference Blinken said, "We talked about regional and global issues in which both of our countries have strong stakes, including the war in Ukraine." "I shared again with the state councilor that we are concerned about China's alignment with Russia," he stressed.

They discussed how they see the state of the bilateral relationship, Blinken said, adding, "I had the opportunity to directly communicate our approach to the People's Republic of China."

"We addressed areas of disagreement and ways to manage and reduce risks.

"I relayed our concerns about the repression of freedom in Hong Kong, forced labor, the treatment of ethnic and religious minorities in Tibet, the genocide in Xinjiang. "None of these are easy topics, but the United States seeks always to be a consistent voice on human rights and fundamental freedoms, not to stand against China or any other country but to help advance peace, security, and human dignity," Blinken went on.

"Despite the complexities of our relationship, I can say with some confidence that our delegations found today's discussions useful and constructive.

"Moving forward, the United States wants our channels of communication with Beijing to continue to remain open," he said, noting that the relationship between the two countries "is highly consequential for our countries but also for the world.

"We're committed to managing this relationship, this competition, responsibly as the world expects us to do, leading with diplomacy," he added.

In remarks before the meeting, Wang said, "China and the United States are two major countries, so it is necessary for the two countries to maintain normal exchanges." "At the same time, we do need to work together to ensure that this relationship will continue to move forward along the right track," he added. — Agencies