US-China relations: both sides set to talk tough at Alaska summit – but it still may be progress of a kind

The meeting between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China’s foreign policy chief Yang Jiechi will allow them to set out their red lines

However, some observers believe they will also be able to provide a degree of reassurance

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Thursday’s meeting will be the first time senior members of the Biden administration meet their Chinese counterparts face-to-face. Photo: Reuters

Published: 11:00pm, 16 Mar 2021Updated: 10:40am, 17 Mar 2021

The US and China are both expected to adopt a tough stance and set out their red lines during Thursday’s meeting between their most senior diplomats in Alaska, but observers believe it will still be an improvement on the last meeting between the two sides.

When China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi met then US secretary of state Mike Pompeo in Hawaii last June, the readouts from the two sides looked like they had come from parallel universes each with their own very different talking points. A month later, tensions further escalated as diplomatic missions in both countries were ordered to shut.

This week, Yang will once again travel to a location that is roughly halfway between Beijing and Washington to meet Pompeo’s successor Antony Blinken.

They will be joined by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Jake Sullivan, Joe Biden’s national security adviser.

With mildly positive signals from both sides, observers believe there is a possibility that the summit in Anchorage will yield some progress, and the two are also likely to lay out their positions.

Yang Jiechi and Mike Pompeo’s last meeting highlighted how far apart the two sides were. Photo: AFP