Austin and Wei’s first face-to-face meeting comes as US President Joe Biden is seeking to spend more time on Asian security issues after months of focus on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The two defence chiefs spoke by phone in April. Although both sides say they want to better manage their relationship, Beijing and Washington remain polarised over several volatile security situations, from Taiwan’s sovereignty to China’s military activity in the South China Sea and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe met on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore for nearly an hour, double the time initially allotted.
Austin and Wei’s first face-to-face meeting comes as US President Joe Biden is seeking to spend more time on Asian security issues after months of focus on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The two defence chiefs spoke by phone in April. Although both sides say they want to better manage their relationship, Beijing and Washington remain polarised over several volatile security situations, from Taiwan’s sovereignty to China’s military activity in the South China Sea and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe met on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore for nearly an hour, double the time initially allotted.
Austin and Wei’s first face-to-face meeting comes as US President Joe Biden is seeking to spend more time on Asian security issues after months of focus on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The two defence chiefs spoke by phone in April. Although both sides say they want to better manage their relationship, Beijing and Washington remain polarised over several volatile security situations, from Taiwan’s sovereignty to China’s military activity in the South China Sea and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
