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China-US ties: Lloyd Austin looks forward to meeting Chinese defence minister Wei Fenghe to ‘engage in the future’
- US Defence Secretary tells Senate Appropriations Committee said he hoped his engagement with his Chinese counterpart would be the first of many
- Military analysts say major security and defence issues will not be solved at expected meeting at the Shangri-La Dialogue next month
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US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said he was looking forward to meeting his Chinese counterpart for the first time at next month’s Shangri-La Dialogue Asian security summit to promote security and stability, after describing “countering aggression and bullying from China” as a “pacing challenge”.
Austin told the US Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday he hoped his engagement with General Wei Fenghe would be the first of many and that both men recognised the importance of dialogue and maintaining open channels. They first spoke by phone on April 20.
“We both want to make sure that we work together to promote security and stability in the region,” Austin told the committee. “And so I look forward to, again, engaging him in the future, in the not-too-distant future. I’m sure I’ll see him at the Shangri-La Dialogue coming up in June.”
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US destroyer passes through Taiwan Strait, China urges ‘no interference by external forces’
US destroyer passes through Taiwan Strait, China urges ‘no interference by external forces’
Security concerns in the Indo-Pacific are a thorn in US-China ties, a relationship that has been at a low ebb since former US president Donald Trump’s administration.
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Washington has blamed Beijing for coercing its neighbours into accepting its geopolitical positions, while Beijing said the US was interfering with China’s internal affairs over self-ruled Taiwan and had destabilised the region with defence alliances such as Aukus, a defence partnership between the US, Britain and Australia.
Austin said China remained a “pacing challenge” for the US, and that the US had allotted US$6 billion to the Pacific Deterrence Initiative.
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“In keeping with our new National Defence Strategy, we are going to enhance our force posture, infrastructure, presence and readiness in the Indo-Pacific – including the missile defence of Guam,” he said on Tuesday.
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