US defence chief Lloyd Austin expected to meet Chinese counterpart Dong Jun in Singapore

The meeting, to be held during the Shangri-La Dialogue next week, will be their first since they spoke on the phone in April
The announcement follows intense efforts by the US to forge closer defence ties with several of China’s neighbours

US-China relations

Holly Chikin WashingtonandKhushboo Razdanin Washington

Published: 5:08am, 25 May 2024

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US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin is set to meet his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun in Singapore next week, the Pentagon said on Friday.

The defence chiefs will talk face-to-face on the sidelines of Shangri-La Dialogue – an annual high-level defence summit in the Asia-Pacific region – for the first time after Dong was named China’s Minister of National Defence in December.

The plan comes after their first video call last month, which marked the first high-level, military-to-military contact between the two countries after more than two years.

The virtual talks in April covered “defence relations and regional and global security issues”, including the South China Sea, Russia’s war against Ukraine, provocations by North Korea, the Taiwan Strait and defence relations between the US and China, according to the Pentagon.

While the Pentagon did not provide further details about the coming meeting with China, it said Austin’s trip to Singapore and Cambodia “comes as the Department of Defence continues to strengthen US relationships with allies and partners in support of a shared regional vision for peace, stability and deterrence”.

Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun speaks to his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu in Astana, Kazakhstan, in April. Photo: Russian Defence Ministry Press Service via AP

Austin will also deliver plenary remarks during the three-day forum starting on May 31 which features ministers and government officials from more than 50 countries.

Soon after the trip announcement, the agency said Austin will undergo a medical procedure on Friday evening. It said the procedure is related to bladder issues, and not his previous cancer diagnosis.

Although military-level communication between the two geopolitical rivals has resumed since President Xi Jinping met with Biden in San Francisco in November, tensions persist with Washington forging deeper ties with several of Beijing’s neighbours.

Earlier this month, the US assembled a strategic coalition dubbed “Squad” to counter China in the strategically vital Indo-Pacific region.

On May 2, Austin met with his counterparts from Australia, Japan and the Philippines in Hawaii. After the talks, the defence chief announced that the quadrilateral group will explore the possibility of conducting more maritime exercises and extending greater security assistance to Manila.

The first meeting of “Squad” defence ministers also took place on the sidelines of the Shangri-La security dialogue in Singapore in June 2023.

Last month, the four nations conducted joint maritime patrols amid ongoing tensions between Manila and Beijing regarding territorial claims in the South China Sea ahead of a state visit by Japanese Prime Fumio Kishida to Washington.

The bilateral meeting between Biden and Kishida resulted in new defence agreements, including cooperation on a joint command structure and, along with Australia, develop a new air missile defence network.

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The two also held a trilateral meeting featuring the Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr at the White House on April 12.

The high-level meeting concluded with the US reaffirming defence commitments to its two allied partners amid China’s increasing pressure in the contentious region due to conflicting territorial claims.

Beijing asserts that over 80 per cent of the South China Sea is its sovereign territory, putting some of this in contention with competing claims by Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

In recent months, there have been at least two incidents of naval confrontation involving Chinese coastguard and maritime militia forces and the Philippine coastguard. In April, Manila accused China of “dangerous manoeuvres and obstruction” near the disputed Scarborough Shoal.

In its quest to counterbalance Beijing’s influence in the Indo-Pacific, Washington also leads the Quad, an informal cooperation bloc including Australia, India and Japan and Aukus, a defence pact among Australia, the UK, and the US.