Lloyd Austin and Chinese defense chief meet at Asia security summit
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin locked horns with his Chinese counterpart on Taiwan on Friday in their first face-to-face meeting in two years.
SINGAPORE — The U.S. and Chinese defense chiefs locked horns on Taiwan in their first face-to-face meeting in two years on Friday, but both sides emphasized the need to keep military-to-military communications open.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and China’s defense minister, Dong Jun, met in Singapore on the sidelines of Asia’s premier defense summit, the Shangri-La Dialogue. The Philippines’ president was to give a speech at the meeting later in the day that was expected to touch on sensitive South China Sea claims.
The U.S.-China relationship is expected to loom over the dialogue, as are the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and the South China Sea tensions.
During the meeting with Dong, Austin expressed concern about Chinese military activity near Taiwan, including after the island’s presidential election and the inauguration of President Lai Ching-te this month, U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said in a statement.
“The secretary expressed concern about recent provocative PLA activity around the Taiwan Strait, and he reiterated that the PRC should not use Taiwan’s political transition — part of a normal, routine democratic process — as a pretext for coercive measures,” Ryder said after the 75-minute meeting.
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