US and Chinese defense chiefs hold first in-person talks since 2022

Singapore (CNN) — US and Chinese defense chiefs held rare talks in Singapore Friday touching on a host of fractious issues including Taiwan and China’s relationship with Russia as well as frictions in the South China Sea as the two powers navigate a contentious security landscape across the Asia-Pacific.

The meeting, between US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and China’s Minister of National Defense Adm. Dong Jun, is the first face-to-face talks between the two defense chiefs and Austin’s first such discussions with a Chinese counterpart since late 2022.

The meeting, on the sidelines of an annual defense conference in Singapore, takes place against a fraught regional backdrop. Beijing – which wields the world’s largest navy – continues to aggressively assert disputed territorial claims in the East and South China Seas, while decrying Washington’s efforts to strengthen security ties with key allies like Japan, South Korea and the Philippines.

At the core of those contentions is that China does not want to see America exercise its military power in Asia – a region where the US it has deep, historic security ties and seeks to maintain open waterways and deter North Korean aggression, but where China is widely viewed as wanting to establish its dominance.

A deterioration of US-China military dialogue in recent years raised international concerns about those tensions leading to miscommunications that could veer toward conflict.

In their roughly 75 minute meeting, both Austin and Dong nodded to their interests in maintaining dialogue, while also pressing each other on key issues, according to statements from each sides.

Austin raised concerns about “recent provocative” Chinese military activity around the Taiwan Strait and China’s “role in supporting Russia’s defense industrial base,” according to a readout from Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder.

The US defense chief also “made clear” that the US would continue its operations “safely and responsibly” wherever international law allows – in an apparent pushback on China’s aggressive patrolling of international waters and airspace in the region.

Austin’s counterpart said the “stabilization” of the military-to-military relations “does not come by easily and shall be cherished dearly,” Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Wu Qian, told reporters after the meeting, adding that Dong stressed that neither side should “contain or smear” the other side, but build mutual trust.

Dong also said that when it comes to areas surrounding China, especially the South China Sea, commercial ships and aircraft “can always operate safely,” but that “there is a huge difference between freedom and willfulness, between navigation and trespassing.”

“It is important to respect others’ security concerns, and security should be mutually respected. No one can pursue one’s security at the expense of another country’s security,” Dong said, according to the ministry spokesperson.

Regional tensions

The two leaders spoke following a period of weeks where regional tensions have been on show.

China earlier this month staged major war games around Taiwan following the inauguration of the island’s new democratically elected president Lai Ching-te. China’s ruling Communist Party claims the self-governing democracy as its own, despite never having controlled it.

Its Coast Guard in recent weeks has also fired water cannons and sought to counter Philippine vessels operating in disputed areas of the South China Sea, stoking already heightened tensions with a US treaty ally in the region.

Beijing has also lashed out at what it sees as provocative moves between the US and its allies, as it conducts joint military exercises in the region.

Austin in his talks with Dong reiterated the US call for China not to “use Taiwan’s political transition—part of a normal, routine democratic process—as a pretext for coercive measures,” the Pentagon statement said. Dong, meanwhile, slammed the US for offering a congratulatory message for Lai, calling on it to take “concrete actions to correct its mistakes,” according to China’s account.

Dong also condemned the deployment of an American missile system during military drills in the Philippines last month as a “threat to regional security,” and accused Manila of being “emboldened by outside powers,” according to Wu. “Our tolerance for continued and intensified provocations will have a limit,” the spokesperson quoted Dong as saying in reference to the Philippines.

China claims historic rights to the bulk of the South China Sea, despite a 2016 ruling at an international tribunal in The Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines against that claim.

The two sides also discussed Russia’s war in Ukraine, with Austin indicating to China that there would be consequences if Beijing continues to support Russia militarily, a senior US defense official said after the meeting.

The US defense chief “said quite clearly that if China’s support for Russia’s defense sector continues than the United States, with our allies, will have to take further measures,” the official said, while declining to detail what those measures would be.

Washington in recent weeks has said dual-use exports from China are bolstering Russia’s defense industrial base as it wages war in Ukraine and have warned Chinese counterparts against providing lethal aid. Dong said China, which claims neutrality in the conflict, had “honored our promise not to provide weapons to either side of the conflict” and has strict controls on dual-use exports, according to China’s spokesperson.

Austin also discussed US concerns about China’s nuclear buildup and cyber attacks on US critical infrastructure, a second US defense official said.

Severed ties

The sit-down in Singapore follows a call last month between Austin and Dong, who was appointed to his post in late December. The call marked Austin’s first at-length conversation with a Chinese counterpart since November 2022.

Beijing had largely suspended high-level military communications following a visit in August of that year from then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, which sparked Beijing’s ire.

The silence coincided with a period of significant tensions between the two powers, which included high-profile incidents such as a Chinese spy balloon traversing across the continental US and what the US described as an increase in “coercive and risky” behavior by Chinese pilots against US aircraft over the East and South China Seas.

US efforts to re-engage appeared further complicated by the appointment in early 2023 of China’s previous Defense Minister Li Shangfu, who had been sanctioned by the US in 2018 over China’s purchase of Russian weapons.

Austin and Li had a brief exchange during last year’s Shangri-La Dialogue, but no formal talks, with Beijing repeatedly suggesting that the US defense secretary won’t get a meeting with Li unless the sanctions were revoked.

Efforts to stabilize that communication hit another complication after Li abruptly vanished from the public eye last August amid a personnel shake-up in Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s military ranks.

Li was formally removed from his post without explanation in October and replaced by Dong, a former naval commander, some two months later. 
 
In China, the defense minister is a largely ceremonial role, serving as the public face of military diplomacy with other countries, while command power resides within the Chinese Communist Party’s powerful Central Military Commission led by Xi.

Xi and US President Joe Biden had vowed to restore high-level military talks during a summit outside San Francisco in November, seen by both sides as a key step in stabilizing fractious relations.

Several weeks later, US and Chinese top generals spoke in a video call, paving the way for this week’s in-person meeting between the defense chiefs.

Following Friday’s meeting, a US defense official said the US side had pressed for calls between China’s five theater commanders in the region and US Indo-Pacific Command Commander Adm. Samuel Paparo, adding that those calls could happen soon but had not been scheduled.

Austin also referenced plans to convene a crisis-communications working group by the end of the year, the Pentagon readout said.

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CNN’s Alex Stambaugh and Brad Lendon contributed to this report.