Washington also said Beijing refused to talk to Austin after the US brought down a suspected Chinese spy balloon flying over its airspace in February, and US military leaders say China is not interested in maintaining the lines of communication that contribute to a stable defence relationship.

During last year’s defence conference, after Austin set out America’s vision for the Indo-Pacific, Li’s predecessor, General Wei Fenghe, accused the US of trying to contain and “smear” Beijing.

Monday’s statement said Li would outline China’s new security initiative during his first appearance at the Shangri-La Dialogue, which is organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank.

President Xi Jinping proposed the Global Security Initiative at last year’s Boao Forum for Asia, as China’s vision for world peace and stability. It includes opposition to unilateral sanctions and interfering in the internal affairs of other countries – something China often accuses the US of doing.

Taiwan intervention and US conflict among top worries for Chinese: poll

As head of equipment development under the military commission, Li was sanctioned by the US in 2018 for his role in the purchase of Su-35 Russian fighter jets and equipment related to the S-400 surface-to-air missile system. The sanctions do not bar the Chinese and US defence ministers from meeting.

“Southeast Asian countries hope to see Beijing send senior officials to the dialogue and have in-person communication with them,” said Zhou Chenming, a researcher at the Yuan Wang military science and technology think tank in Beijing. “The PLA is responding to those wishes.”

He expected any meeting between the Chinese and US defence chiefs to be acrimonious, and said China would “stick to its bottom line” if the pair did meet.

Zhou Bo, a retired senior colonel who is now a senior fellow at Tsinghua University’s Centre for International Security and Strategy, said there was still a chance for Li and Austin to shake hands even though it remained uncertain if the US and China would hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the conference.

Chong Ja Ian, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore specialising in Chinese foreign policy, said Li’s speech on China’s security initiative could be more important than any talks with Austin.

“Xi wants to push [the initiative], so it’s more important,” Chong said, adding that if it got support then Beijing would be encouraged to release more concrete proposals for the initiative.

He expected any meeting between Li and Austin to revolve around military-to-military contacts, noting there was already “slightly more communication” between the two nations, though “it hasn’t spilled over into the defence and military side yet”.

China began sending delegations to the Shangri-La Dialogue in 2007, but has only sent its defence minister three times previously. General Liang Guanglie was the first, in 2011, followed by Wei in 2019 as well as last year. The conference was not held in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic.

China’s defence ministry said Li would also meet Singaporean officials and defence leaders before leaving on Sunday.

Additional reporting by Minnie Chan