SECDEF Austin Meets Chinese Defense Minister for First Time, Philippine President Marcos Warns of U.S.-China Conflict Regionally ‘Constraining’
DZIRHAN MAHADZIR
MAY 31, 2024 3:45 PM
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on May 29, 2024. DoD PhotoU.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met in person for the first time Chinese Defense Minister Adm. Dong Jun on Friday in Singapore on the sidelines of the International Institute of Strategic Studies 2024 Shangri-La Dialogue, officials said.
The two defense chiefs discussed Taiwan and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea during the meeting. Also at the two-day conference, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. criticized China for its actions in the South China Sea, but also said the U.S.-China rivalry is constraining the strategic choices of regional states and exacerbating flashpoints, creating new security dilemmas.
According to a Pentagon readout, Austin and Dong also discussed U.S.-China defense relations and regional and global security issues. Austin emphasized the importance of maintaining open lines of military-to-military communication between the United States and China. He reaffirmed the announcement by President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping in November 2023 that both sides would resume telephone conversations between theater commanders in the coming months. Austin also welcomed plans to convene a crisis-communications working group by the end of the year.
Austin and Dong had only spoken via teleconference on Apr. 16, following a resumption of military talks between Washington and Beijing. Prior to Biden and Xi’s California meeting in November, China had previously refused any talks between Austin and then-Chinese Defense Minister Gen. Li Shangfu. China rebuffed a U.S. request for a meeting between Austin and Li at a previous Shangri-La Dialogue because of sanctions the United States imposed on Li in 2018. Li, who disappeared from public sight in August, was formally dismissed on Oct. 24, with some outlets reporting that he had been arrested for corruption. Dong was appointed defense minister on Dec. 29.
https://news.usni.org/2024/05/31/secdef-austin-meets-chinese-defense-minister-for-first-time-philippine-president-marcos-warns-of-u-s-china-conflict-regionally-constraining
