The U.S. had proposed a meeting of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and China’s Defense Minister Li Shangfu in Singapore
Posted BY: Teresa | NwoReport
WASHINGTON—China has rebuffed a U.S. request for a meeting between their defense chiefs on the sidelines of an annual security forum in Singapore this coming weekend, the Pentagon said Monday, showing the limits of a tentative rapprochement between the two rival powers.
The decision by China formally to inform the Pentagon shuts the door for now on a meeting between Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Li Shangfu, China’s new defense minister, which the U.S. had proposed on the sidelines of the annual Shangri-La Dialogue security forum.
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China’s dismissal of the proposal also was termed an unusually blunt message, U.S. defense officials said. In the past, such meetings have come together at the last minute, including last year’s meeting between Austin and his then-counterpart, which was agreed upon hours beforehand.
