Editorial | Behind the scenes, China and the US are engaged in dialogue
- The two countries’ defence chiefs may have failed to formally meet at a security conference in Singapore, but exchanges are ongoing at other levels to cool tensions
A handshake between the defence ministers of China and the United States may have broken the ice at a major Asian security conference and kept alive hopes of a meeting just between the two on the sidelines.
For the meeting to happen, though, the US would have had to agree to lift sanctions imposed on Li Shangfu five years ago over Russian arms purchases, which surely no longer served any useful purpose. Such a meeting would have been a highlight of the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
It was not to be, ending any prospect of meaningful dialogue at the top level between the world’s two most powerful militaries, seen as critical to avoiding misunderstandings.
Instead they reverted to familiar rhetoric.
In his first public address to an international audience since becoming defence minister, Li accused “some countries” of launching proxy wars, after his counterpart, Lloyd Austin, vowed to support allies against “bullying”. The two remained as far apart as ever on flashpoints Taiwan and the South China Sea.
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At about the same time, however, without any fanfare, US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink began a visit to Beijing to discuss key issues in the deeply troubled bilateral relationship.