The U.S. secretary of defense, Lloyd J. Austin III, and China’s minister of defense held their first face-to-face talks in 18 months on Friday, against a backdrop of distrust over Taiwan, the South China Sea and other regional disputes.
President Biden has made the case that high-level communication channels between the United States and China had to remain open to prevent potential clashes between two of the world’s most powerful militaries.
Yet military issues have remained the most intractable area of tension between the two nations, and expectations for the meeting between the defense chiefs in Singapore were modest.
“These are not negotiations with the intention to compromise,” said Drew Thompson, a visiting senior research fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore who formerly served as a Pentagon official dealing with the Chinese military.
“This is an opportunity for the two sides to exchange well-established talking points.”
Persons:
Lloyd J, Austin III, Austin, Dong Jun, Biden, ”, Drew Thompson, Lee
Organizations:
Mr, Russia, Lee Kuan Yew, of Public, National University of Singapore, Pentagon
Locations:
Taiwan, South, Singapore, Beijing, China, Ukraine, United States