"Of course [they] are in sessions this morning and these were serious discussions," Porter said in a telephone briefing.

Porter said the standoff between the US and Chinese top diplomats on Thursday was an example of exaggerated theatrics intended for domestic audiences.

Porter said the theatrics will not distract from having tough conversations between the two sides.

On Thursday, Blinken and National Security Adviser to the US President Jake Sullivan held first meetings with two senior Chinese diplomats — Director of the Office of the Central Committee for Foreign Affairs Yang Jiechi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Anchorage, Alaska. The first session began with harsh criticism of Beijing by Blinken and Sullivan. The US officials criticized China for Hong Kong events and the alleged genocide against Uighur Muslims in China’s Xinjiang region, their Chinese counterparts responded by criticizing the United States for hypocrisy, including human rights abuses of African Americans.