China yet to answer US request for meeting with defense secretary

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
26 May 15:36
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The United States says China is yet to respond to Washington's request for a meeting between the two, despite Beijing stressing its own conditions for the talks.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin holds a press briefing with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley at the Pentagon, May 25, 2023, in Washington. (AP)

China is yet to give a formal response to the US request for a meeting between Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart Li Shangfu at an upcoming international forum in Singapore, a senior US defense official said Thursday.

"Secretary Austin and the Department of Defense initiated a request to meet with General Li, and that request has not been answered one way or another," Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner told an event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

The official underlined that "the ball is in their court at this point."

This comes after the United States proposed a meeting at the level of defense ministers with China at the Shangri-La Dialogue set to take place in Singapore next week.

The US recently sought to restore talks with top officials in China after relations soured in recent months, especially in light of the Chinese alleged spy balloon incident and Washington's increased militarization of countries surrounding China.

Ratner: 'Do we need to have a major crisis?'

There have been plans for a meeting this week between commerce and trade officials in the wake of discussions that took place earlier in the month between the US National Security Advisor and China's top diplomat.

Without directly responding to the US request, China said it was concerned about US sanctions that the country had imposed on Li years ago over his alleged role in a Chinese arms purchase from Russia.

Ratner, meanwhile, reaffirmed the Pentagon's stance that the sanctions imposed on Li don't pose a legal obstacle to a meeting between the two defense ministers, stressing that military-to-military tiers are crucial to managing future crises that could lead to an escalation.

"The question again, for the PRC, is 'do we need to have a major crisis before we take things seriously?'" Ratner said. "Our argument is: let's do it now."

A veteran Chinese diplomat said in April that unless the United States fundamentally changes its attitude toward China, there's no point in talks on ways to safeguard the relationship, Bloomberg reported.

"China-US relations are very much strained," indicated Xu Bu, head of the China Institute of International Studies, a think tank affiliated with the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

"One of the most important causes is that the United States is worried that China may surpass it," Xu said.

The former Chinese envoy to Chile and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations pointed out that the US failure to understand China’s rise was the main obstacle to improving bilateral ties between the two sides.

Tensions mounted again last month between the two countries after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met made a provocative visit to the US and met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, prompting China to condemn the talks and stage three days of military drills around Taiwan.