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The US and Chinese defence ministers will meet in person for the first time in two years later this month, as the countries reopen communication lines that were closed as relations plummeted in 2022.
Lloyd Austin and Dong Jun, who was appointed in December, will meet at the Shangri-La Dialogue defence forum in Singapore at the end of this month, according to people familiar with the situation.
China shut down military-to-military communications with Washington after then US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in 2022, enraging Beijing.
Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to reopen the channels between the two militaries when he held a summit with President Joe Biden in San Francisco in November that was aimed at stabilising relations.
In another sign of re-engagement, Ely Ratner, the top Pentagon official for the Indo-Pacific, on Thursday spoke to Major General Li Bin, head of the Central Military Commission office for international military co-operation. It was the first exchange between the occupants of the positions since 2019.
“We see value in frank conversations between defence and military leaders from the United States and the People’s Republic of China at multiple levels, because they provide our officials with an opportunity to speak candidly about issues of concern,” said a US defence official. “Opening lines of military-to-military communication is important to help prevent competition from veering into conflict.”
Asked about the Singapore meeting, a Pentagon spokesperson said, “We don’t have any specific meetings to announce today”. But he said Ratner’s call with Li underscored that the US was “committed to delivering on the president’s direction to increase military to military communication”.
While there has been some improvement in military relations, US-China tensions remain very high. Beijing reacted angrily this week when Biden announced new tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and other products in a move that China views as an attempt to constrain its economic growth.
At Shangri-La last year, China refused to agree to a meeting between Austin and Li Shangfu, who had been recently appointed defence minister, because the US had not removed sanctions on Li imposed during the Trump administration. Several months later, China removed Li from his post as part of an investigation into corruption in the PLA.
Bonnie Glaser, a China expert at the German Marshall Fund, said the Austin-Dong meeting would be a “good opportunity to reinforce US messages” on issues such as Taiwan and the South China Sea.
But she said the more important channel was with the vice-chair of the Chinese Military Commission. “Undoubtedly Austin hopes that after this meeting with Dong Jun at Shangri-La Dialogue that engagement will follow,” Glaser said. “The PRC insists that the meeting with their defence minister take place first.”
Relations between the militaries have shown signs of stabilising in recent months, including a recent halt to Chinese fighter jets “risky or coercive” actions around US spy planes over the South China Sea.
But Washington has become extremely concerned in recent months about Chinese aggressive activity around the Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef inside the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
The Pentagon said Ratner used his call with Li to express concerns about “dangerous PRC actions against lawfully operating Philippine vessels in the South China Sea”.
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