BEIJING \/ WASHINGTON
\nThe defence ministers of the United States and China were due to meet Friday in Singapore as the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit gets under way, Chinese state media said.
\nThe talks between Wei Fenghe and Lloyd Austin will be \u201cthe first meeting between Chinese and US defence ministers since Austin took office\u201d, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
\nThe Shangri-La Dialogue, a forum for the world\u2019s top military officials, diplomats and weapons firms, is being held in the southeast Asian city-state between June 10 and 12.
\nIt is the first time the event has been held since 2019 after twice being postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
\nChina and the US have butted heads in recent years over Beijing\u2019s claims to almost the entire South China Sea as well as its sabre-rattling over Taiwan.
\nThe ruling Communist Party claims democratic, self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed to one day seize it, by force if necessary.
\nMore recently, the two sides have been at loggerheads over Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, with Washington accusing Beijing of providing tacit support for Moscow.
\nChina has called for talks to end the war, but has stopped short of condemning Russia\u2019s actions and has repeatedly criticize American arms donations to Ukraine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BEIJING \/ WASHINGTON The defence ministers of the United States and China were due to meet Friday in Singapore as the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit gets under way, Chinese state media said. The talks between Wei Fenghe and Lloyd Austin will be \u201cthe first meeting between Chinese and US defence ministers since Austin took office\u201d, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265634,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-265611","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n