Alaska dispute between US and Chinese officials an inauspicious start to a new era of relations

An acrimonious start to US-China talks in Alaska make the possibility of a reset seem distant after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's opening remarks were met with pushback from China's top diplomat, Yang Jiechi.

When it was first revealed that top officials from the United States and China would be meeting in Alaska this week, there was a degree of optimism this could mark the start of a new relationship between the two countries, after an almost complete breakdown during the final year of President Donald Trump's term. Last month, following a call between President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, who is taking part in the Alaska summit, said "in the past few years, China-US relations deviated from the normal track, and ran into the biggest difficulties since the establishment of diplomatic ties."