US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu
The official notification from Beijing to the Pentagon has closed the possibility of US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin meeting with his Chinese counterpart Li Shangfu. According to WSJ, Washington wants to hold the meeting when both ministers attend the Shangri-La Dialogue (taking place from June 2 to 4) in Singapore, an event considered the leading forum on Asian security with the participation of many military generals and senior defense officials.
WSJ: Beijing refuses to host US-China defense secretary meeting
"Last night, China informed the United States that it was declining an invitation we extended in early May to arrange for Secretary Austin to meet with Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu in Singapore this week," the WSJ quoted the Pentagon's statement in a report on May 29.
In a statement, the Pentagon said it "strongly believes in the importance of maintaining military-to-military lines of communication between Washington and Beijing to ensure that competition does not lead to conflict."
China did not immediately comment on the WSJ report.
US defence officials said China’s refusal to meet was also seen as an unusually blunt message. In the past, such meetings have often been arranged at the last minute, including last year between Mr Austin and then-Chinese defence minister Wei Fenghe.
China’s decision comes after weeks of US efforts to arrange the meeting, including a letter from Austin to Li. Washington is now open to the possibility of a lower-level meeting between the two sides, according to the WSJ .
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Relations between Beijing and Washington have been strained since February, after the US shot down a Chinese "spy" balloon, warned Beijing against supplying weapons to Russia in the war in Ukraine and allowed Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen to transit in the US.
Earlier this month, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China, in Vienna. US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo also met with her Chinese counterpart Wang Wentao, the first cabinet-level meeting between the two countries in Washington since President Joe Biden took office. Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang also met with US Ambassador Nicholas Burns in Beijing.
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