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The defense ministers of the United States and China are scheduled to meet in person for the first time in two years later this month in a bid to reopen lines of communication that the two countries shut down after relations plummeted in 2022.
Lloyd Austin and Dong Jun, who was appointed in December, are scheduled to meet later this month at the Shangri-La Dialogue and Defense Forum in Singapore, according to people familiar with the situation.
China cut off military-to-military communications with the U.S. government after then-Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in 2022, infuriating Beijing.
Chinese President Xi Jinping held a summit with President Joe Biden in San Francisco in November aimed at stabilizing relations and agreed to reopen channels between the two militaries.
In another sign of re-engagement, Eli Ratner, the Pentagon’s top official for Indo-Pacific affairs, met on Thursday with Maj. Gen. Li Bin, director of the Central Military Commission’s Office of International Military Cooperation. It was the first time since 2019 that people in each position had interacted with each other.
“We believe there is value in candid dialogue between the defense and military leaders of the United States and the People’s Republic of China at various levels because it provides our officials with an opportunity to speak candidly about issues of concern. “Because they provide it to us,” a U.S. defense official said. “To prevent competition from escalating into conflict, it is important to open lines of communication between militaries.”
Asked about the Singapore meeting, a Pentagon spokesperson said: “There are no specific meetings to announce today.” But he said the call between Mr. Ratner and Mr. Lee underscored that the United States is “committed to carrying out the president’s directive to strengthen military-to-military communications.”
Although there has been some improvement in military relations, tensions between the United States and China remain very high. Beijing was furious this week when Biden announced new tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and other products in an attempt to rein in China’s economic growth.
At last year’s Shangri-La, China agreed to meet Mr. Austin with recently appointed defense minister Li Shangfu because the United States had not lifted sanctions imposed on Mr. Li during the Trump administration. Rejected. A few months later, China fired Li as part of an investigation into corruption in the People’s Liberation Army.
Bonnie Glaser, a China expert at the German Marshall Fund, said the Austin-Dong meeting would be a “good opportunity to reinforce the U.S. message” on issues such as Taiwan and the South China Sea.
But she said the more important channel is with the vice chairman of the Chinese Military Commission. “Austin definitely hopes that an engagement follows after his meeting with Dong Jun at the Shangri-La Dialogue,” Glaser said. “China insists that a meeting with the defense minister take place first.”
Relations between the militaries have shown signs of stabilization in recent months, including a recent cessation of “dangerous or coercive” behavior by Chinese warplanes near U.S. spy planes over the South China Sea.
However, in recent months, Washington has become extremely concerned about China’s aggressive activities around Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
The Pentagon said Mr. Ratner, in a phone call with Mr. Li, expressed concern about “dangerous actions by China against Philippine vessels operating legally in the South China Sea.”
