Top American, Chinese Diplomats Clash Publicly at Start of First Talks of Biden Presidency

U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan (R) speaks as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken looks on, at the opening session of U.S.-China talks at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage, Alaska, on March 18, 2021. Frederic J. Brown/Pool via Reuters

ANCHORAGE, Alaska—The United States and China leveled sharp rebukes of each others’ policies in the first high-level, in-person talks of the Biden administration on Thursday, with the deeply strained relation between the leader of the free world and the world’s largest communist state on public display during the meeting’s opening session in Alaska.

The United States, which quickly accused China of “grandstanding” and violating the meeting’s protocol, had been looking for a change in behavior from China.