U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met China’s top diplomats in Alaska on March 18. This was the first meeting between the two nations since President Joe Biden took office, and according to Reuters, the U.S. will expect China to improve its behavior.
“We look forward to the opportunity to lay out in very clear terms to our Chinese counterparts some of the concerns that we have about the actions they’re taking,” Blinken said before the meeting.
A Beijing official told Reuters that China hoped the meeting “will help set a broad framework” for resuming engagement rather than resolving specific issues. Sullivan told reporters he didn’t expect Trump’s Phase One trade deal, or details on tariffs or export controls, to be a major topic in Alaska.
“We expect that there are parts of the conversation that could be difficult,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters.
