US defense chief spoke with Chinese counterpart, Pentagon says

WASHINGTON — US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with China’s defense minister on Tuesday, the first engagement the two have had in more than a year as the two countries seek to restore military ties.

The phone call comes as US President Joseph R. Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping have sought to manage tensions; the two leaders last year resumed direct military talks. In a readout after the call, the Pentagon said Mr. Austin “underscored the importance of respect for high seas freedom of navigation guaranteed under international law, especially in the South China Sea.”

An escalating diplomatic dispute and recent maritime run-ins between China and the Philippines, a US treaty ally, have made the highly strategic South China Sea a potential flashpoint between Washington and Beijing.

China and US should explore ways to “get along” and “gradually accumulate mutual trust” by building a “nonconflict, nonconfrontation,” pragmatic and cooperative relationship between their militaries, the Chinese Defense Ministry cited its minister as saying during the phone call.

Minister Dong Jun said the US should recognize China’s position on South China Sea, and respect China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests there.

He also stressed that the Taiwan issue is “core of China’s core interests.”

The Pentagon said the two also discussed Russia’s war in Ukraine, North Korea, and Washington’s commitment to the so-called one China policy.

Mr. Austin last spoke with his Chinese counterpart in 2022, when he met China’s defense minister at the time, Wei Fenghe, on the sidelines of a gathering of Southeast Asian countries in Cambodia. —