A fierce level of enmity and distrust was on full display at the first high-level talks between China and the United States since President Joe Biden took office, but Beijing still raised the prospect of achieving more of substance in future meetings. The most noteworthy aspect of the first-day meetings was a public tit-for-tat between the two sides that lasted for over an hour as they traded accusations of “violating protocol”, although the mood was reported to have improved during later closed-door sessions. Soon after the first day’s two rounds of talks had concluded, Chinese diplomats said the discussions had been “smooth” and they still had a lot to discuss the following day. “The second round of talks was smooth, and we have discussed a lot of regional issues,” said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi as he left the meeting room. “[For the first round of talks,] we can’t say it was tense. Both sides have explained their stance”. Claims of protocol violation and theatrics bring heat to Alaska summit China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian sought to play down the combative posturing. “We believe the dialogue is a good opportunity to enhance communication, manage our differences and expand cooperation and will point the way forward for the bilateral ties,” he said. “The opening discussions are just appetisers and the highlights will only come later.” Observers described both sides as well prepared and their tense exchange and unusually tough posturing had largely been anticipated and were aimed at their respective domestic audiences. As if to illustrate the state of the relationship between the two sides, at one point, Yang Jiechi, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s top foreign policy aide, snapped at his American hosts – Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan. “Is that the way you had hoped to conduct this dialogue?” asked Yang who was obviously annoyed about the American officials’ opening criticisms. “I think we thought too well of the United States. The United States isn’t qualified to speak to China from a position of strength,” he said, referring to the Biden administration’s China approach outlined by Blinken early this month. Thursday’s Anchorage meeting came on the heels of a flurry of diplomacy by top Biden administration officials, including Blinken, to rally support among China’s neighbours in East Asia and Indo-Pacific for its confrontational approach to Beijing. “We will … discuss our deep concerns with actions by China, including in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyberattacks on the United States, economic coercion of our allies,” Blinken told journalists at the start. Zhu Feng, an specialist in US affairs at Nanjing University, said the heated exchanges represented the new normal following Donald Trump’s chaotic term in office. “US-China relations are multidimensional, with competition and confrontation becoming a main feature in recent months. It is probably only natural for them to spar over contentious issues such as Hong Kong and Xinjiang,” Zhu said. “While China has stressed the importance of cooperation with the Biden administration in the past two months, that does not mean Beijing will restraint itself from fighting back against blunt criticisms of China, as Blinken did recently in Japan and South Korea.” Alaskans are unfazed by the high-level US-China diplomacy in their midst Things started off civilly as the Chinese delegation walked down a long hallway in Anchorage’s Hotel Captain Cook, where the Americans are staying, everyone masked, past camera crews and into a ballroom to be greeted by Blinken. But in the opening statements a few minutes later the gloves came off, with Wang Yi heard to tell the US side it was “no way to treat their guests”. In his 15-minute opening statement, Yang touted China’s success in containing Covid-19 and tackling poverty while the US was still battling the pandemic. He went on to accuse Washington of using its financial and military might to squeeze other countries and adding that abusive US national security policies threatened the future of global trade. He also rejected criticism of Beijing’s policies in Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan, saying they were all inseparable parts of China. He also called the US the “champion” of cyberattacks and criticised its domestic politics. “Many people within the United States actually have little confidence in the democracy of the United States,” he said, citing the killing of African-Americans and the Black Lives Matter movement. Near the end of his opening remarks, he said Blinken’s comments weren’t “normal” and added that in response “mine aren’t either.” Washington should abandon its “cold war mentality” and legacy of confrontation, he continued, adding: “The United States does not represent international public opinion and neither does the Western world.” “And I believe for our two countries, under the new circumstances we need to enhance communication, properly manage our differences and expand our cooperation instead of engaging in confrontation. Between our two countries we have had confrontation in the past and the result did not serve the United States well. What did the United States gain from that confrontation?” he asked. After the tense public tit-for-tat, however, there was some indication the two sides managed to cool down behind closed doors. A senior US official said on background that the first day talks had been “substantive, serious, and direct” and went well beyond the planned two hours. However, in another sign of tensions, the two sides did not sit down together for a meal as is usually the custom at events of this nature. Chinese analysts said the fiery remarks in front of the cameras seemed to be a deliberate move to allow both sides to appear tough in public. “The Biden administration’s priorities are mainly domestic issues and it is reluctant to be seen at home, especially by the Republicans, as kowtowing to China by agreeing to the Alaska meeting, while top Chinese diplomats will also have to cater to a domestic audience who are seeing Americans in an increasingly unfavorable light,” said Zhu. The two-day meeting was the first face-to-face sit-down between the two sides since Biden took office in January. Sullivan set the tone. “We do not seek conflict, but we welcome stiff competition, and we will always stand up for our principles, for our people, and for our friends,” he said, according to a pool transcript of the meeting. Beijing – which is keen to engage Washington before the Biden administration’s China policy is fully formed and can rally its allies in support – has repeatedly characterised the meeting as the start of a substantive engagement and described the meeting as a “high-level strategic dialogue”. But the US has rejected this description and indicated that the talks would be a one-off without significant changes from China. Further narrowing any chance of progress, the State Department chose to announce shortly before the meeting that 24 Chinese and Hong Kong officials had been sanctioned over their handling of the city. While largely symbolic – most had already been sanctioned by the Treasury Department – the announcement could have been delayed until after the meeting. Alaska summit turns civil after fiery start, but no room for hosted dinner “I don’t see the Biden administration believing that cooperation is essential,” said Elizabeth Economy, a fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. “And the Chinese are willing to tolerate quite a high degree of confrontation.” Lee Seong-hyon, director of the Centre for Chinese Studies at Sejong Institute in Seoul, said the Alaska meeting was still important even if it appeared to achieve little. “It won’t be successful because both sides will not be fully satisfied. It will be an important meeting because both sides will confirm the other’s bottom lines. The emerging outcome will set the tone for a period of a “loose Cold War”. Additional reporting by Catherine Wong