US Defense Secretary Austin expected to meet with Chinese counterpart in Singapore

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is expected to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Admiral Dong Jun, at a major defense conference in Singapore next week, the Pentagon announced Friday.

It will be the first meeting between the two defense leaders following a phone call in April. It comes as the U.S. and China have gradually worked to warm relations, which had been largely frozen since a controversial visit by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2022 resulted in China temporarily stopping most military-to-military communications.

Austin and Dong, China’s minister of national defense, are expected to meet during the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore next week, an annual meeting of defense ministers and government officials from more than 50 countries.

The meeting also comes, however, as China has engaged in aggressive military drills around Taiwan, resulting in Taiwan scrambling jets and putting missile, naval and land units on alert Thursday.

China launched the exercises after the island’s new president, Lai Ching-te, was inaugurated and delivered a speech asking Beijing to cease its intimidation against the island but face the reality of its existence. Beijing rejected his remarks as advocating for separatism and launched the military drills.

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