China rejects US request for Defense Ministers' meeting

Beijing has turned down a request from the United States to arrange talks between Chinese Defense Minister Dun Jun and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on the sidelines of the meeting of Asian defense chiefs in Laos, Report informs via Defense News.

A source in the US Department of Defense told journalists before the summit in Laos that the Pentagon had proposed such a meeting, but China declined, citing US arms sales to Taiwan. However, the true reasons for the refusal, according to the official, are the US sanctions against Chinese companies, the visit of then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan in August 2022, and the incident with a Chinese balloon found in US airspace in February 2023.

It remains unclear whether this refusal signals another suspension of the military dialogue between the US and China, the source noted.

Contacts between the two countries' militaries were interrupted after the US shot down a Chinese balloon over its territory in February 2023, but resumed following a summit attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden in November 2023.