“Following the contentious meeting between U.S. and Chinese officials in Anchorage in March, China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported that the two sides had decided to set up a working group on climate change among other modest but specific joint initiatives. But U.S. officials told The Washington Post that no such agreements were made — a point analysts said reflected the Biden administration’s aversion to get trapped into Beijing’s style of formalized meetings that may or may not produce results.

“‘These are all things that were without appeal to the U.S. side because it’s all process and no substance, and the Chinese have used process as a kind of straitjacket to bind the United States and create the impression that there’s more amity in the relationship than there really is,’ said Danny Russel, a former senior diplomat in the Obama administration and vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute…”

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