Chinese defence minister Dong Jun rebuffs meeting with Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin at conference

WASHINGTON - China’s Defence Minister declined a meeting with US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin during a meeting of defence leaders in Laos, a move the Pentagon chief said on Nov 20 was unfortunate.

Multilateral gatherings of national security officials in Asia have been used in the past for meetings between US and Chinese defence leaders, but China declined a meeting request by Mr Austin during this week’s Asean-Plus defence ministers meeting.

“It’s unfortunate. It affects the region because the region really wants to see us, you know, two significant players in the region, two significant powers, talk to each other,” Mr Austin told reporters.

“I don’t think that it has any sort of implications for the future. I just think that it’s something that they chose to do at this point in time and only they can explain why they chose to not take advantage of a good opportunity.”

Mr Austin

met Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun on the sidelines of a Singapore conference earlier in 2024,

reiterating their differences on Taiwan and other issues but emphasising the need to keep military-to-military communications open.

Chinese President Xi Jinping

vowed on Nov 16 to work with the incoming US administration of Donald Trump

as he held his final talks with outgoing President Joe Biden on conflicts from cybercrime to trade, Taiwan, the South China Sea and Russia. REUTERS