US/China talks get off to a rough start

Officials from the US and China begin their first meeting since US President Joe Biden became president.

However, it did not go so well.

They started out on a sour note with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken kicking things off in Alaska by vowing to raise concerns about recent cyber attacks, the treatment of Muslim minorities in Xinjiang and Beijing’s increasing control over Hong Kong.

Blinken said China’s actions threatened the international order and human rights.

Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi replied by saying that Western nations don’t represent global public opinion and called the US the “champion” of cyber-attacks.

"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," the U.S. national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said at the start of talks.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken told China's top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, and State Councilor Wang Yi in Anchorage that the US side would discuss its "deep concerns" about Chinese actions in Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as cyberattacks on the United States and economic coercion of allies.

"Each of these actions threatens the rules-based order that maintains global stability," he said.

Meanwhile, Beijing is hoping for a meeting between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping and for relaxation on sanctions. 

Market implications

There has been little direct consequence in the market that was otherwise sidetracked by the coronavirus risks and rising rates in the US with Treasury yields climbing through 1.7%. 

The biggest decline in the major indexes came in the Nasdaq tumbling 3% which was its steepest one-day fall since Feb.25.