WASHINGTON, DC – US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun via video teleconference Tuesday, in the first substantive talks between the superpowers’ defense chiefs in nearly 18 months.
“Secretary Austin emphasized the importance of continuing to open lines of military-to-military communication between the United States and the PRC” following talks between the two sides in recent months, the statement said. “The military sphere is the key… to stabilizing the development of the relationship and preventing major crises from occurring,” Dong said.“Dong Jun emphasized that the Taiwan issue is the core of China’s core interests,” the defence ministry readout said.
Austin’s last significant interaction with a Chinese counterpart occurred in November 2022 when he met with Wei Fenghe in Cambodia. There are multiple points of contention between Washington and Beijing, especially over Taiwan, the democratic, self-ruled island, which China claims as part of its territory and has said it will not rule out using force to bring under its control.
The United States has also highlighted multiple incidents in recent years in which it says Chinese warplanes and ships have operated in an unsafe manner around American aircraft and vessels.
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