On Memorial Day, China denied the United States Department of Defense’s request for a meeting between defense ministers. “Overnight, the PRC informed the U.S. that they have declined our early May invitation for Secretary Austin to meet with PRC Minister of National Defense Li Shangfu in Singapore this week,” the Pentagon in a statement to the WSJ, using the abbreviation for China’s formal name, the People’s Republic of China.
The Daily Caller reports Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin planned to speak in-person with his Chinese counterpart on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Security Dialogue from May 31 to June 4, as he had done in 2022, when such meetings usually materialize without significant planning ahead. However, Beijing issued a last-minute rebuff to the Pentagon in an unusually straightforward rejection as relations between the two defense ministries further sour, according to the WSJ.
According to the WSJ., the Pentagon has been attempting to secure a meeting between Austin and China’s new defense minister, Li Shangfu, “even taking a somewhat unusual step of sending a letter directly to Li.”
U.S. officials maintained a meeting between lower-ranking defense officials could still transpire, the WSJ reported. Lack of formal dialogue between two major competitors in the Pacific could trigger concerns among South Asian countries who feel caught in the middle, they added.
In May, the Financial Times reported that China has said high-level defense talks were unlikely, citing the Biden administration’s staunch refusal to lift sanctions on Li,
Li Shangfu plans to attend the Shangri-La Dialogue and meet with “heads of delegations of relevant countries,” Tan Kefei, a spokesperson for China’s defense ministry, said Monday.
The Daily Caller reports on the recent history between the two countries:
Communication with China’s Ministry of National Defense dried up after the U.S. shot down a Chinese spy balloon that flew across the continental U.S., collecting data on sensitive military sites. Wei Fenghe, China’s defense minister at the time, rejected the Pentagon’s request for a secure call.
Since then, national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo met with their counterparts, and U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns held a stern face-to-face conversation Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, but defense ministers have so far stonewalled U.S. communication attempts, according to U.S. defense officials and the WSJ.