Chinese, US defense chiefs hold talks in Singapore

Chinese Minister of National Defense Admiral Dong Jun and United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin held a meeting on the sideline of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Friday afternoon.

The meeting between the Chinese and US defense chiefs in Singapore lasted 75 minutes, “longer than expected,” according to China’s Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian.

China’s defense minister told his US counterpart that China is not providing weapons to either side of the Ukraine conflict but is upholding peace and dialogue.

This was the first face-to-face meeting between the Chinese and US defense chiefs since 2022.

In November 2022, then Chinese defense minister Wei Fenghe met with Lloyd Austin during the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting-Plus in Cambodia.

According to Singapore’s Ministry of Defense, Dong also met with Singapore’s new Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Friday.

On Thursday, Dong held talks with his Singaporean counterpart Ng Eng Hen.

Earlier this week, China’s Defense Ministry announced that Dong would conduct a six-day visit to Singapore where he would also participate in the elite security conference Shangri-La Dialogue and deliver a speech on China’s approach to safeguard global security.

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