Military communication with US has not stopped, says China’s Defence Ministry
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The US and China have been sparring over the South China Sea, Taiwan and other issues.
PHOTO: REUTERS
BEIJING – China’s Ministry of Defence said on Thursday that military-to-military communication between Beijing and Washington has “not stopped”, amid high tensions between the two superpowers over the South China Sea, Taiwan and other issues.
“I want to clarify that China-US military-to-military communication is not stopped,” Senior Colonel Wu Qian, the ministry’s spokesman, said at a weekly briefing, adding that there remain “many difficulties and obstacles” in the relationship.
China snubbed a US request for a meeting between US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart, General Li Shangfu, on the sidelines of a Singapore defence forum in June.
Gen Li was sanctioned by the United States in 2018 for allegedly purchasing Russian arms equipment. REUTERS
