US defence chief Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe will come face to face for the first time in Singapore this weekend.
| US defence chief Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe will meet for the first time in Singapore this weekend as they set out theMilitary and government heavyweights from around the world, along with business and security experts, are among those gathered for the Shangri-La Dialogue.Back after a two-year hiatus, the event will “return defence diplomacy” to the Asia Pacific, according to the convenor, the International Institute for Strategic Studies .
Chinese state media have ramped up the anti-US rhetoric in recent days, but reports have also said the two powers would use the first discussion between their defence ministers since Joe Biden took office to discuss areas of cooperation.Tensions have escalated over the past fortnight amid reports China is building a navy base in Cambodia. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said China was the most serious long-term threat to world order.
Tensions between Australia and China on regional defence issues are also high heading into the meeting, despiteChina this week warned Australia it faced “serious consequences” if it did not stop its military forces from taking “provocative” action in the South China Sea. Beijing claimed an RAAF plane ignored repeated warnings to leave airspace in the region last month.
“We expect, from our perspective, the substance of that meeting to be focused on managing competition in regional and global issues,” Reuters quoted a senior US official as saying.
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