China rejected a meeting with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during a conference in southeast Asia this week, marking the latest turn in a tumultuous relationship between the two countries’ defense leaders.
Austin sought to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Dong Jun, at the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting-Plus in Laos as part of a long-standing effort to maintain military lines of communication between the US and the People’s Republic of China. But China did not accept the offer, pointing to a recent Taiwan arms sale as their rationale, a senior defense official told reporters traveling with Austin in Laos.
Three weeks ago, the US approved a $2 billion arms sale to Taiwan, including a first-time provision of advanced surface-to-air missiles to the self-governed island. China immediately criticized the sale, promising to take “resolute countermeasures” to defend its sovereignty.
The Chinese rejection of the meeting in Laos comes just days after US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Peru for their final meeting under Biden’s administration. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the meeting was “candid, constructive, [and] wide ranging,” but that Biden would not act as a conduit between the Chinese government and the incoming Trump administration.
China has often used the cancellation of meetings and lines of communication as a way of registering displeasure with the United States. After then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in 2022, China cut off a number of lines of communication with the US, including on military issues and climate.
The rejection comes after a seeming improvement in military-to-military communications between the two countries over the last year or so.
