WashingtonThe Pentagon chief said Wednesday that China’s defense minister’s decision to turn down a meeting with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during a gathering of defense chiefs in Laos was regrettable.
U.S. and Chinese defense leaders have previously met at multilateral gatherings of national security officials in Asia, but Austin’s request to meet with China during this week’s Southeast Asian Nations-Plus defense ministers meeting was turned down.
It is regrettable. It has an impact on the area since, as Austin told reporters, “the area really wants to see us, you know, two significant players in the region, two significant powers, talk to each other.”
It doesn’t seem to have any bearing on the future, in my opinion. I simply believe that it’s something they decided to do at this particular moment, and only they can explain why they didn’t seize a favorable situation, Austin continued.
Austin met with Dong Jun, China’s defense minister, on the margins of a conference in Singapore earlier this year. They reiterated their disagreements on Taiwan and other matters, but they also emphasized the importance of maintaining open military-to-military communication.
As he concluded his final discussions with outgoing President Joe Biden on issues ranging from trade, Taiwan, the South China Sea, and Russia to cybercrime, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged on Saturday to cooperate with the incoming Donald Trump administration.
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