US Concludes ‘Tough’ Talks With China in Alaska

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan address the media following the closed-door morning talks between the United States and China upon conclusion of their two-day meetings in Anchorage, Alaska, on March 19, 2021. Frederic J. Brown/Pool via Reuters

ANCHORAGE, Alaska—Senior U.S. and Chinese officials concluded on Friday what Washington called “tough and direct” talks in Alaska which laid bare the depth of tensions between the world’s two largest economies at the outset of the Biden administration.

The run-up to the talks in Anchorage, which followed visits by U.S. officials to allies Japan and South Korea, was marked by a flurry of moves by Washington that showed it was taking a firm stance, as well as by blunt talk from Beijing warning the United States to discard illusions that it would compromise.