Chinese, US defence chiefs agree to improve dialogue but stand firm on Taiwan

Wei Fenghe and Lloyd Austin discuss concerns over the island, the war in Ukraine and North Korea

China halted military dialogue with the US after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi went to Taipei in August

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US defence chief Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe meet in Siem Reap, Cambodia on Tuesday. Photo: Twitter

Published: 10:30pm, 22 Nov 2022Updated: 8:55am, 23 Nov 2022

Defence chiefs from China and the United States have agreed to improve communication channels that have been suspended since US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August, angering Beijing.

But Chinese Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe and his US counterpart Lloyd Austin remained firm in their positions on Taiwan and the region when they met in Siem Reap, Cambodia on Tuesday.

On the sidelines of the Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus, Wei and Austin discussed concerns over Taiwan, the war in Ukraine, the North Korea nuclear crisis and other global security issues, according to statements from the two sides.

Lloyd Austin and Wei Fenghe meet on the sidelines of the ADMM-Plus security talks. Photo: Xinhua

The talks ran for about 1½ hours and followed Wei and Austin’s first face-to-face meeting in Singapore in June.

The defence chiefs agreed to try to implement the consensus reached between Xi Jinping and Joe Biden when the two presidents met at the Group of 20 summit in Bali last week.

That consensus was to avoid military conflict and improve crisis communications by preventing an escalation of the rivalry and confrontation between the two powers.

Austin also restated the US commitment to the one-China policy and “reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability across the [Taiwan Strait]”, according to the Pentagon statement.