SINGAPORE - The Chinese and United States defence chiefs were not expected to meet; after all, Beijing had rebuffed an American invitation to have talks on the sidelines of this year’s Shangri-La Dialogue.
Yet, speculation still arose: How would the two men interact, if and when they do brush up against each other at the security forum?
After all, going by previous years’ arrangements, they would be in the same ballroom for the opening night dinner in the Shangri-La hotel – the same table, in fact.
And then, it happened. A warm sustained handshake between US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu at the No. 1 VIP table.
The two exchanged brief greetings – helped by a Chinese interpreter – nods and smiles.
They then sat apart over dinner, buffered by Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, standing in for Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who is Covid-19-positive, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
It is difficult to say to what extent the interaction was planned, but it provided a brief moment of welcome distraction in a day packed with heavy-going discussions about the state of a world driven by heightened US-China tensions.
Earlier this week, the Pentagon said that China had declined its request for a meeting at the Singapore summit; Beijing said it had to do with the US’ refusal to lift sanctions it had imposed on General Li in connection with Chinese purchases of Russian fighter jets and missiles.
Resuming talks would require Washington to create a “necessary atmosphere and conditions”, said Beijing.
Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said in a statement on Friday night that both defence chiefs spoke briefly at the opening dinner, “but did not have a substantive exchange”.
The Pentagon believes in maintaining open lines of communication, and will continue to “seek meaningful military-to-military discussions at multiple levels to responsibly manage the relationship”, said the spokesman.
Both defence ministers will sit across from each other again on Saturday when Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen hosts a ministerial roundtable.
This would be after Secretary Austin’s speech in the morning, which the Chinese delegation would be watching closely as it will decide the tone of Gen Li’s own speech at the forum the day after.
China has wasted no time in firing an early salvo, even before the security conclave kicked off formally, restating that it will not rule out the use of force should Taiwan declare independence.
The Chinese Defence Ministry, in a briefing to reporters on Thursday night, said Gen Li had, at his first bilateral meeting with his Singapore counterpart, recited Beijing’s red line.
“We are committed to pursuing the prospect of peaceful reunification with the utmost sincerity and effort, but we will never allow the Democratic Progressive Party authorities to leverage foreign powers for independence, nor will we allow external forces to use Taiwan to contain China,” ministry spokesman Tan Kefei quoted Gen Li as telling Defence Minister Ng.
“We absolutely do not promise to abandon the use of force. China must and will inevitably be reunified. China will resolutely defend its national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
On his first day of his first outing at the Shangri-La Dialogue since becoming defence minister in March, Gen Li met his counterparts from New Zealand, Mongolia, Cambodia and the Philippines on Friday. He is expected to meet the British defence secretary and others on Saturday.
There remains no expectations of a formal bilateral meeting between Gen Li and Secretary Austin. At this point, perhaps a handshake is all that will have to do.
