The stabilization of relations between the US and Chinese militaries has not been easy and must be preserved, Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun was quoted as saying by Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian at a press conference on Friday.
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Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin met on Friday on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore. This was the first personal meeting of the heads of defense departments of the two countries since 2022.
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“Dong Jun noted that the current situation of stabilizing relations between the two armed forces has not been easy and should be protected,” Wu Qian said at a press conference following negotiations between the defense ministers of the two countries, as quoted by China Central Television.
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Wu Qian added that during the talks, the parties discussed relations between the armed forces of the two countries, exchanged views on the Taiwan issue, the South China Sea issue, the Ukrainian crisis, as well as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. According to Wu Qian, the conversation between the parties was constructive and practical.
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The heads of defense departments have not met for about two years. The last face-to-face meeting between US and Chinese defense chiefs took place in June 2022 in Cambodia, when Austin held talks with now-former Chinese defense chief Wei Fenghe. With Admiral Dong Jun, who became the Minister of Defense of the People’s Republic of China relatively recently, in December 2023, the head of the Pentagon has so far communicated only once and via video link – their negotiations took place in April and were devoted to a wide range of issues – from Ukraine to the South China Sea and Taiwan.
