The Pentagon: Beijing rejected a new invitation for a meeting between the defense ministers of the two countries

 
INA-sources
 
“The People’s Republic of China has informed the United States that it declines an invitation from us in early May for a meeting this week in Singapore between Secretary Austin and China’s Minister of National Defense Li Shangfu,” said a statement from Pentagon spokesman General Pat Ryder.
 
“The lack of willingness of the People’s Republic of China to engage in meaningful military talks is worrisome, but it will not weaken the Department of Defense’s commitment to seeking to open lines of communication with the People’s Liberation Army,” Ryder said.
 
A senior official in the Ministry of Defense described the refusal to accept the invitation as “the latest in a series of excuses,” and said that, as of 2021, China “has either rejected or not responded to more than 12 requests by the Ministry of Defense for communication between the two leaderships, and to several requests for communication between the two leaderships.” Permanent dialogues, and about ten requests for communication at the level of work teams.
 
The US administration imposed sanctions on Li Shang Fu in 2018 because of his purchase of Russian weapons, but the Pentagon asserts that this matter does not prevent Austin from officially dealing with him.
 
 
Austin is scheduled to go to Singapore later this week to participate in the Shangri-La Dialogue, a defense summit, where he met in June with former Chinese Defense Minister Wei Feng.
 
Earlier in 2022, Wei and Austin held another meeting in Cambodia, but tensions between Washington and Beijing escalated this year due to several files, including Taiwan, and the United States accusing China of launching a spy balloon over its territory, which was shot down by an American fighter after it flew over the country.
 
Austin and other US officials are working to strengthen alliances and partnerships in Asia as part of efforts to counter China’s growing influence, while initial indications are that the two sides are seeking to contain tensions between them.
 
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met China’s top foreign affairs official, Wang Yi, in the Austrian capital earlier this month.
 
US President Joe Biden recently said that relations between Washington and Beijing are supposed to “improve very soon”, after the Chinese balloon contributed to fueling tension.
 
Source: Pledge Times