“It seems that a whole-of-government and whole-of-society campaign is being waged to bring China down,” Mr. Xie told Ms. Sherman, according to the summaries of his comments, which were also issued on the Chinese foreign ministry website. “Do bad things and get good results. How is that ever possible?”

The Chinese foreign ministry’s volley of combative comments, issued before and during Ms. Sherman’s talks in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin, suggested that her visit was unlikely to ease the disputes that have festered between Beijing and Washington. The State Department said last week that she would discuss Washington’s “serious concerns” about Chinese actions, as well as “areas where our interests align.”

But Chinese people “feel that the real emphasis is on the adversarial aspect; the collaborative aspect is just an expediency,” Mr. Xie told Ms. Sherman, according to the summary.