A video released by a Chinese state-run media outlet implies that the US hosts of top-level diplomatic talks in Alaska failed to supply lunch for Chinese representatives, forcing them to rely on instant food.

The video emerged amid accusations from Beijing that the American side treated the Chinese delegation improperly during the ill-tempered opening session of the talks.

The video, published online by CGTN, shows two top Chinese diplomats – Foreign Minister Wang Yi and the Communist Party’s foreign affairs chief Yang Jiechi – chatting about what they ate for lunch as they take a walk together. They seem to be walking inside the venue of the diplomatic talks with the U.S. delegation, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.

“Have you had lunch?” Wang asks in the unverified video. In response, Yang says: “Yes, I had instant noodles.”

Beijing has accused the U.S. side of making groundless accusations against China in their opening remarks at the talks, which ran over the scheduled time. Beijing said the schedule overrun was “against diplomatic etiquette,” while U.S. officials fired back by blaming Beijing for “grandstanding.”

The apparent emphasis on the lack of lunch provided by the Americans may be an attempt by Beijing to set the stage for a more hardline stance in future talks, according to political analyst Hui Ching, research director of the Hong Kong Zhi Ming Institute.

“(It is to say) if you are unfriendly ... your Secretary of State Antony Blinken will be treated just like Mike Pompeo,” he told Apple Daily. Pompeo is the former secretary of state, known for his harsh verbal attacks on China, who has been sanctioned by Beijing.

The top-level talks, the first since U.S. President Joe Biden took office in January, were marred at the onset when both parties delivered lengthy opening remarks filled with criticisms against the other side. The scheduled eight-minute opening turned into a 90-minute heated exchange in front of journalists from around the world.

In summing up the first-day episode, an unnamed reporter for China’s state-affiliated Phoenix Television was quoted by Apple Daily as describing the incident as “hysterical”, “overrun” and “no rice arranged.”

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