The sub-zero chill in the Alaskan state capital of Anchorage will likely set the tone for the first high-level meeting between the U.S. and China since President Joe Biden took office, as Beijing’s envoy to the United States says he has “no high expectations” for the talks.

The Chinese Communist Party’s foreign affairs chief Yang Jiechi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will hold high-level strategic talks on Thursday and Friday in the far northwest of the U.S. with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.

It will be the first face-to-face meeting between senior U.S. and Chinese officials since Biden became president in January. But neither side appears to have set high expectations for addressing their intense disagreements over trade, the COVID-19 pandemic and the human rights situation in Tibet, Hong Kong and the western Xinjiang region of China.

On the eve of the meeting, Cui Tiankai, China’s ambassador to the U.S., told state media that there would be “no room for compromise” on topics including sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national reunification, such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Xinjiang, which Cui said were of “core interest” to Beijing.

“If someone thinks this time, China came to Alaska — a place filled with ice and snow — to make compromises and concessions, then I would suggest that my colleagues in Beijing cancel this trip as soon as possible,” Cui said. “Why bother to come here? I hope those people will jettison such illusion.”

It was not the first time the U.S. has attempted to “damage China’s sovereignty and bilateral relations,” he said, adding that China “resolutely opposes and will take necessary countermeasures.”

“Neither Biden nor Blinken intends to change [former U.S. President Donald] Trump’s tough measures against China. They may meet with China more on symbolic issues,” said Willy Lam, a professor of Chinese politics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

“Both Democrats and Republicans have reached a high degree of consensus on their China policy, that is, China has replaced Russia and has become a serious threat to the U.S. status in the international space.”

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