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It’s no secret that tensions have been running high between China and the West, including with the United States. The situation around Taiwan is an ongoing sore point, as well as China’s aggressive expansion into the South China Sea. This week, military leaders from around the world met at the Shangri-La Defense Forum, held in Singapore, and American Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met for an hour with his Chinese counterpart, Dong Jun. Austin came away from the meeting with a surprisingly confident tone, claiming that war with China is « neither imminent nor unavoidable. » Dong Jun had less to say, and other nations didn’t seem to be nearly as optimistic, particularly the Philippines, which has been engaged in saber-rattling with Beijing for a couple of years now. (Associated Press)
United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told a gathering of top security officials Saturday that war with China was neither imminent nor unavoidable, despite rapidly escalating tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, stressing the importance of renewed dialogue between him and his Chinese counterpart in avoiding “miscalculations and misunderstandings.”
Austin’s comments at the Shangri-La defense forum in Singapore came the day after he met for more than an hour on the sidelines with Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun, the first in-person meeting between the top defense officials since contacts between the American and Chinese militaries broke down in 2022 after then-U.
