China’s defense minister declined a meeting with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during a recent defense leaders meeting in Laos, which Austin called unfortunate. Multilateral gatherings in Asia have been used in the past for U.S. and Chinese defense leaders to meet, but China declined Austin’s request during this week’s Southeast Asian Nations-Plus defense ministers meeting. Austin expressed disappointment, highlighting the importance of dialogue between the two significant regional powers. He emphasized that the lack of a meeting does not necessarily have implications for the future and noted that China chose not to take advantage of a good opportunity.
Earlier this year, Austin had met with China’s defense minister on the sidelines of a conference in Singapore, where they discussed differences on Taiwan and other issues while emphasizing the importance of maintaining military-to-military communications. In a separate development, Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed a willingness to work with the incoming U.S. administration under Donald Trump, during his final talks with departing President Joe Biden. The discussions covered a range of issues including cybercrime, trade, Taiwan, the South China Sea, and Russia. The decision by China to decline the meeting with Austin was described as a missed opportunity for constructive dialogue between the two countries.
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