“I WILL ANSWER THE PHONE”
The Shangri-La Dialogue, attended by defence officials from around the world, has become a barometer of US-China relations in recent years.
This year’s edition comes a week after China held military drills around self-ruled Taiwan and warned of war over the US-backed island following the inauguration of President Lai Ching-te, who Beijing has described as a “dangerous separatist”.
Taiwan is one of the thorniest disputes in US-China relations.
Austin met with his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun on Friday for the first substantive face-to-face talks between the two countries’ defence chiefs in 18 months.
China scrapped military communications with the United States in 2022 in response to then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
Tensions between Washington and Beijing were further stoked by issues including an alleged Chinese spy balloon that was shot down over US airspace, a meeting between Taiwan’s then-president Tsai Ing-wen and Pelosi’s successor Kevin McCarthy, and American military aid for Taipei
Friday’s meeting offered hopes of further military dialogue that could help prevent flashpoint issues from spinning out of control.
Austin said the United States and China would resume military-to-military communications “in the coming months”, while Beijing hailed the “stabilising” security relations between the countries.
“I told Minister Dong that if he calls me on an urgent matter, I will answer the phone,” Austin said Saturday.
“And I certainly hope that he’ll do the same.”
