U.S. DEFENCE SECY MAY MEET CHINA COUNTERPART

JAKARTA: The US and Chinese defence chiefs are likely to meet for their first talks since Beijing paused dialogue with Washington over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s August visit to Taiwan - the latest sign that ties between the two nations are stabilising.

US defence secretary Lloyd Austin would welcome a meeting with Chinese defence minister Wei

Fenghe during a gathering of defence chiefs in Cambodia, Brigadier General Pat Ryder, the Pentagon spokesman, said on Monday in Jakarta. That would follow Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent meetings with President Joe Biden and, separately, VP Kamala Harris.