Beijing blames U.S. for 'explosive' Alaska meeting
The first high-level U.S.-China meeting of the Biden administration got off to a fiery start on Thursday (March 19) in Achorage with both sides levelling sharp rebukes of the others' policies in a rare public display that underscored the level of bilateral tension.
"It was due to the fact that the U.S. didn't respect the timings that had been agreed upon for the relevant remarks. It is the U.S. that first provoked and stirred conflict (before the talks). So for both sides, from the start of the opening remarks, the venue totally reeked of explosives and was full of dramatic colours. This was not China's original intention," Zhao Lijian, a spokesman at the Chinese foreign ministry, said at a daily briefing.
The run-up to the talks in Anchorage, Alaska, 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 tough stance, and by blunt talk from Beijing.
