Tension in First High-Level Meeting Between China, Biden Admin

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan hosted China's top diplomat and foreign minister for discussions in Anchorage, Alaska on Thursday. The talks reportedly went over the planned two hours. Blinken moved to address "deep concerns with actions by China, including in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyber attacks on the United States, economic coercion of our allies." Chinese representatives responded by arguing that the U.S. uses its military and financial strength to suppress other nations, and also pointed to unstable race relations in the U.S., saying black Americans were being "slaughtered." Outlets on all sides framed the meeting as testy. Coverage often highlighted pointed remarks from both sides, and painted relations between the two country as being at a critical juncture. Some voices from the right said the meeting highlighted the Biden administration's purported incompetence on foreign policy.