OAN’s Noah Herring
10:56 AM – Tuesday, May 30, 2023
A request sent by the Biden administration to conduct a meeting between the country’s leading defense officials was denied by China, according to a report.
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On Monday, the Pentagon was informed that the meeting between Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu would not be accepted.
The rejection comes as Washington D.C. has been seeking to repair communications with Beijing. Tensions have been high due to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to the island of Taiwan and the U.S.’s decision to shoot down a Chinese spy balloon that traveled over American military sites in February.
The Pentagon said in a statement that China had declined an invitation for an early May meeting, but that would not stop the U.S. from seeking better lines of communication.
“The PRC’s concerning unwillingness to engage in meaningful military-to-military discussions will not diminish the Department of Defense’s commitment to seeking open lines of communication with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) at multiple levels as part of responsibly managing the relationship,” said Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder.
In response to the statement, Chinese embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu justified the decision not to meet by saying that the U.S. was “seeking to suppress China through all possible means and continue imposing sanctions on Chinese officials, institutions and companies.”
“If the United States says it wants to communicate while suppressing and containing China by any means and imposing sanctions on Chinese officials, institutions and enterprises, what is the sincerity and meaning of such communication?” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning at a news briefing.
Lloyd Austin had met with the Chinese defense minister last year while White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo met with their Chinese counterparts earlier this month.
However, this is not the first time China has rejected a meeting. According to a senior U.S. defense official, Beijing has declined or failed to respond to more than a dozen requests for meetings at numerous levels since 2021.
Alexander Neill, a strategic advisor on Asia-Pacific geopolitics, commented saying “It’s designed to be a snub, I think that’s pretty evident.”
Biden last spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping in November during a meeting in Indonesia stating that he expected a “thaw very soon” situation in the U.S.-China relationship.
Despite this, relations between the two militaries are, “obviously the most fraught and sensitive within the bilateral relationship,” Neill said.
Though China has rejected having a meeting this year, Austin and Lee could still cross paths.
“There’s a possibility that they will have a brush-past and a handshake and a photo opportunity,” Neill said. “I think it’ll look pretty grim if they don’t do that, in fact.”
However, he also said that military communication between the countries will not improve until Xi “is willing to sit down and talk with the U.S. president about his concerns.”
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