BEIJING/WASHINGTON - It was a mission to try and salvage a once amicable relationship now beset by squabbles and teetering on divorce. Yet, the undertow of acrimony and deep suspicion was quick to rear its ugly head as soon as United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken stepped off his plane on Sunday in Beijing.

Juxtaposing several visuals of the American diplomat emerging from the aircraft, Chinese media and netizens accused Western press like the BBC and Washington Post of using a filter to deliberately darken the blue skies in the background to suggest that the capital city was enveloped in haze.