Pentagon chief, Chinese counterpart planning first face-to-face meeting: report

The U.S. and Chinese governments are working to set up the first face-to-face meeting between their current top defense officials during a conference in Singapore in June, The Wall Street Journal reported.   

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is set to travel June 10 to the annual Shangri-La Dialogue and Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe is also expected to attend, people familiar with the situation told the outlet.

Austin earlier this month appeared to confirm the planned meeting to the Senate Appropriations Committee, telling lawmakers that he hoped the expected encounter with Wei would “promote security and stability in the region.” 

“We both recognize the importance of a dialogue and maintaining open channels,” Austin said at the time. “I look forward to again engaging him in the future, in the not-too-distant future.” 

The people noted to the Journal that the meeting is not set in stone. 

The National Security Council referred The Hill’s questions about the planned meeting to the Defense Department, where a spokesperson said Austin’s schedule at Shangri-La “is still in development.” 

If conducted, such meetings between top officials are typically done in private on the sidelines of an international conference.  

A conversation between Austin and Wei would carry all the more weight considering the recent increased tensions between the Washington and Beijing over Taiwan. 

Under the “One China” policy, the U.S. does not recognize Taiwan as a separate state from China. But Washington does provide Taiwan with weapons and equipment for its defense as part of its policy of “strategic ambiguity” should China invade the island to bring it under its control. 

During President Biden’s first trip to Asia as president earlier this month, however, he stoked tensions when he said the U.S. would defend Taiwan militarily if China invaded. The White House quickly walked back Biden’s comments, saying that he wasn’t announcing a policy change. 

Two days later, China announced that it conducted military drills near Taiwan, which it views as its territory.  

U.S. and Chinese defense officials have met face-to-face in recent years past. Wei spoke with then-Defense Secretary James Mattis in Beijing in 2018; then-acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan during the Shangri-La Dialogue in spring 2019; and to then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper in Bangkok, Thailand, in November 2019. 

Since then, chances to meet in person have been limited thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. 

In April, Austin and Wei spoke by phone — the first such conversation between the two — to discuss “defense relations, regional security issues, and Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine,” according to the Pentagon. 

China, meanwhile, said Wei told Austin that the two countries should “avoid confrontation” and that the U.S. should not support Taiwan’s independence or “underestimate China’s determination and capability.” 

“If the Taiwan question is not handled properly, it will have a subversive effect on the China-US relations,” according to a readout of the conversation from Beijing.