US, China defence chiefs meet

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin met his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe in Cambodia as the two sides move to keep tensions in check.

The meeting on the sidelines of a conference of defence ministers in Siem Reap – which lasted for an hour and a half – was the first between Austin and Wei since June, before a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan sparked fury in Beijing.

But China and the United States have since sought to lower the temperature with meetings between top officials, and a senior US defence official characterised the talks between Austin and Wei as “productive” and “professional”.

“Both sides agreed that it’s important that our countries work together to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict”, but “competition remains the defining feature of the relationship”, the official said.

Austin sought the “reopening of a number of military-to-military dialogues and mechanisms to help manage that competition responsibly”, the official said, referring to steps that were scrapped by Beijing following Pelosi’s visit.