China rejected a request from the Biden administration to schedule a meeting between the two country’s leading defense officials, according to a report.
China informed the Pentagon Monday that it declined an offer to have U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin meet with Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu, the Wall Street Journal reported. Liu Pengyu, the Chinese embassy spokesman, justified the decision by saying the U.S. was “seeking to suppress China through all possible means and continue imposing sanctions on Chinese officials, institutions and companies.”
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“Is there any sincerity in and significance of any communication like this?” Pengyu added.
Austin met with the Chinese Defense Minister last year. White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with his Chinese counterpart earlier this month, as did Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. However, the Pentagon confirmed the meeting of defense leaders was declined.
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“Overnight, the PRC informed the U.S. that they have declined our early May invitation for Secretary Austin to meet with PRC Minister of National Defense Li Shangfu in Singapore this week,” the Pentagon told the Wall Street Journal. “The Department believes strongly in the importance of maintaining open lines of military-to-military communication between Washington and Beijing to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict.”
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Tension between the U.S. and China has increased this year since the U.S. military shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon in January.
The rejected meeting comes as Russia, an ally of China, continues to attack Ukraine. The Biden administration has urged China not to aid Russia in its war.
China has also taken issue with the U.S.-Taiwan relationship. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen visited the U.S. this year in what included a meeting with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., but none with any Biden administration officials.
