US and Chinese defence ministers discuss Taiwan and Philippines tensions

US defence secretary Lloyd Austin has met his Chinese counterpart for the first time as Washington and Beijing take steps to reopen military communication channels as part of a broad effort to stabilise relations.

Austin met Dong Jun, who became China’s defence minister in December, on Friday at the Shangri-La Dialogue defence forum in Singapore. It was the US defence secretary’s first meeting with a Chinese counterpart since meeting Wei Fenghe in late 2022.

Austin will speak at the Shangri-La Dialogue, the forum in Asia sponsored by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, on Saturday. Dong will follow with a speech on Sunday.

China called the meeting a “positive, pragmatic and constructive strategic communication” and said both sides had shown “strong interest” in future meetings.

The effort to improve communication between the militaries was part of a consensus reached by presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in November to stabilise relations and ensure that competition between the powers “does not veer into conflict”.

But contentious topics featured prominently in the talks, which the Chinese defence ministry said lasted 75 minutes.

The Pentagon said Austin expressed concern about China’s “provocative” military activity around the Taiwan Strait, and “reiterated that the PRC [People’s Republic of China] should not use Taiwan’s political transition — part of a normal, routine democratic process — as a pretext for coercive measures”.

China had denounced Lai Ching-te, who took over as Taiwan’s president last week, as a “dangerous separatist”. Washington has criticised Beijing for conducting its largest military exercises in a year around the island after Lai’s inauguration.

In his inaugural address, Lai stressed the need to protect Taiwan’s sovereignty against China.

Dong, in turn, repeated China’s position that it regards Taiwan as an internal matter and reiterated Beijing’s strong opposition to any US government contact with Taipei.

The Pentagon said Austin also raised concerns about China’s role in supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine. Washington has accused Beijing of supplying Moscow with dual-use technologies to rebuild its defence industrial base.

According to the Chinese readout, Dong said China had honoured its commitment to not provide weapons to either side, and had limited exports of dual-use goods. Beijing would “continue to play a constructive role, but we stand firmly against US efforts to shift blame on to us”, said Chinese defence ministry spokesperson Wu Qian.

A senior US defence official said Austin also raised concerns about Chinese “coercion” against the Philippines. China’s coast guard has repeatedly tried to stop Manila in recent months from supplying troops stationed on the Second Thomas Shoal, a reef inside the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

According to the Chinese readout, Dong objected to the US Army’s recent deployment of the Typhon, an intermediate-range missile launch system, to the Philippines, which he warned posed “a real threat to regional security”.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr will also address the forum on Friday, when he is likely to express concern about China’s activity in the South China Sea.

While Wu urged the US side to “match their words with deeds” to realise the consensus reached between Biden and Xi, he acknowledged that the military-to-military relationship was “at a stage of stabilising from further deterioration”.

“That doesn’t come easily,” he said.

In a positive signal, the Pentagon said both sides were working to arrange telephone calls between Admiral Samuel Paparo, the new head of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and his Chinese counterparts. China has for several years refused such calls.

A senior US defence official said the sides had not scheduled any calls but were “encouraged” by the Chinese response. Wu only said the sides remained in consultations about calls between theatre-level commanders.

The Pentagon added that the two militaries would convene a “crisis communications working group” later this year.