The U.S. State Department announced that Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will meet (SCMP) with China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, and its foreign minister, Wang Yi, in Alaska on March 18. Blinken described the talks as an opportunity to lay out U.S. concerns about China’s actions and said subsequent dialogue is contingent on tangible progress.

The meeting will be the first in-person, top-level discussion with Chinese officials under President Joe Biden, whose administration has criticized China over issues including its crackdown in Hong Kong and abuse of Uyghur Muslims. Blinken has previously vowed (FT) to hold China accountable for abusing the international system. He will arrive in Anchorage after meeting with U.S. allies (NBC) Japan and South Korea.

Japan held services (Kyodo) to reflect on a 2011 earthquake and tsunami that killed nearly sixteen thousand people, left thousands more missing, and caused the world’s worst nuclear disaster in decades when reactors melted down in Fukushima. In Tokyo, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Emperor Naruhito, and Empress Masako joined a moment of silence.

This CFR In Brief looks at nuclear power after the Fukushima disaster.

China/Hong Kong: China’s National People’s Congress approved a resolution that could lead to Hong Kong’s biggest electoral overhaul in more than twenty years. The reform would increase (SCMP) Beijing’s control over Hong Kong’s government.

Myanmar’s military junta accused several deposed officials of corruption, claiming that the country’s former leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, had accepted illegal payments and gold (Reuters). It also said international observers were misinterpreting the crisis in Myanmar. Security forces reportedly killed eight more protesters today.

India: Eighty-eight Rohingya refugees, including children and pregnant women, were detained outside a UN human rights office in New Delhi, a police official told Al Jazeera. Last week, more than 150 Rohingya refugees were detained in India-administered Kashmir.

U.S. Secretary of State Blinken alleged that ethnic cleansing has occurred (BBC) in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. Separately, a high-level official at the Ethiopian embassy in the United States resigned over what he called the “genocidal war in Tigray” (AFP) and broader governance issues.

CFR’s Michelle Gavin explains the conflict in Tigray.

Ivory Coast: The country’s prime minister and minister of defense, Hamed Bakayoko, died of cancer in Germany (Al Jazeera), President Alassane Ouattara announced. Earlier this week, Ouattara appointed officials to fill Bakayoko’s posts on an interim basis.

The European Union’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, Joao Vale de Almeida, denied accusations (Politico) that the EU engages in COVID-19 vaccine nationalism. Likewise, the UK refuted an allegation by European Council President Charles Michel that the country and the United States have banned COVID-19 vaccine exports.

Belarus/Poland: Poland declared a Belarusian diplomat unwelcome (RFE/RL) due to “hostile and unjustified” actions by Belarus. On Tuesday, Belarus expelled a Polish consul who attended an event honoring Polish World War II fighters in a Belarusian city. The event is under criminal investigation.

Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies approved a measure (NYT) legalizing recreational marijuana. The bill is expected to pass the Senate. If President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador signs it into law, Mexico will become the world’s largest market for marijuana.

This CFR Backgrounder looks at Mexico’s devastating drug war.

Colombia: Defense Minister Diego Molano Aponte refused to say how many children were killed when the military bombed cocaine smugglers in the Guaviare region earlier this month, but he admitted at least one minor died (WSJ).