This Friday, May 31, the 21st Shangri-La forum opened in Singapore, which brings together numerous experts and world leaders on international security issues until Sunday. On the sidelines of this first day, a major meeting took place: direct talks between the American and Chinese defense ministers, a first since 2022.
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It was a highly anticipated meeting. The US and Chinese defense chiefs held discussions “ positive, practical and constructive », indicated the spokesperson for the Chinese Minister of Defense, Wu Qian, after an hour of talks between Dong Jun and Lloyd Austin.
This interview took place on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual defense forum which runs until Sunday June 2. In a report of the discussions communicated by the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin assured that the UNITED STATES And China were going to resume military communications by telephone “ in the coming months “.
He thus reaffirms the announcement made by the president Joe Biden and the Chinese president Xi Jinping in November 2023. Beijing had in fact suspended military discussions with Washington at the end of 2022, in reaction to the visit to Taiwan by Nancy Pelosi, then President of the House of Representatives.
Work group
The American minister also welcomed the plan to convene a working group on crisis communication with China by the end of the year. At the end of this meeting, their first in person, the Chinese Defense spokesperson for his part estimated that relations between the Chinese and American armies had “ stopped their decline » and stabilized.
The Chinese side nevertheless warned that it was not possible for Beijing and Washington to resolve all bilateral problems in a single meeting. The meeting between MM. Austin and Dong therefore suggest new future military talks in order to ease tensions.
The only reservation, however, is the Taiwan question : Chinese Defense spokesperson stressed that US actions in Taiwan seriously violate the one-China principle. The island is supported militarily by the United States, which opposes any modification of its status by force, without calling for its independence.
Regarding Ukraine, Chinese Minister Dong Jun assured his American counterpart that China does not provide any weapons to the conflicting parties and maintains an impartial position.
Intensify communications to ease friction
This meeting is part of an intensification of communications between the American government and China. Both countries are seeking to ease frictions between nuclear-armed rivals, and Dong Jun and Lloyd Austin are scheduled to give speeches this weekend in which they are expected to address them.
The Shangri-La Dialogue, which brings together defense chiefs from around the world, including French Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu, has in recent years become a barometer of Sino-American relations.
This meeting takes place a week later major military maneuvers led by China, during which Chinese warships and fighter planes surrounded Taiwan, over which Beijing claims sovereignty. Rivalries in the South China Sea should therefore feature in the backdrop of this forum.
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