March 17, 2021

The White House is setting low expectations ahead of Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan’s first face-to-face meeting with their Chinese counterparts in Anchorage, Alaska.

Blinken and Sullivan are set to meet Thursday with State Councilor Wang Yi and the foreign affairs chief of the Chinese Communist Party, Yang Jiechi, in what the U.S. side has said will be an initial opportunity to address intense disagreements over trade and human rights in Tibet, Hong Kong and the western Xinjiang region, as well as the coronavirus pandemic.

But ahead of the meeting, a senior administration official described the talks as a chance for the two sides for “taking stock” in the relationship. The official, who briefed reporters ahead of the meeting on the condition of anonymity, said the two sides would not deliver a joint statement following the meeting and no major announcements are expected to come out of the talks.

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