WASHINGTON — China’s defense minister declined a meeting with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during a meeting of defense leaders in Laos, a move the Pentagon chief said Wednesday was unfortunate.
Multilateral gatherings of national security officials in Asia have been used in the past for meetings between U.S. and Chinese defense leaders, but China declined a meeting request by Austin during this week’s Southeast Asian Nations-Plus defense ministers meeting.
It affects the region because the region really wants to see us, you know, two significant players in the region, two significant powers, talk to each other,” Austin told reporters.
“I don’t think that it has any sort of implications for the future.
Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed on Saturday to work with the incoming U.S. administration of Donald Trump as he held his final talks with departing President Joe Biden on conflicts from cybercrime to trade, Taiwan, the South China Sea and Russia.
Persons:
WASHINGTON, Lloyd Austin, Wednesday, “, ” Austin, ” Austin added.Austin, Dong Jun, Xi Jinping, Donald Trump, Joe Biden
Organizations:
Pentagon, Austin, Nations
Locations:
Laos, Asia, China, Singapore, Taiwan, cybercrime, South, Sea, Russia