Beijing Says No Meeting Between US In Singapore In 2023

SHANGHAI — While both countries’ defense chiefs will be in Singapore this weekend for a security conference, the prospects for a fresh, high-level military discussion are low due to Beijing’s assertion that the two countries’ defense chiefs would not hold a bilateral meeting.

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Mao Ning, pointed the finger at the United States, saying that the United States should “earnestly respect China’s sovereignty and security interests and concerns, immediately correct the wrongdoing, show sincerity, and create the necessary atmosphere and conditions for dialogue and communication between the two militaries.”

China’s claims of sovereignty over the disputed South China Sea and its launching of a suspected spy balloon over the United States have fueled heightened tensions between the two countries. Mao did not provide further specifics.

U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin will speak on Saturday, and on Sunday, Chinese Defence Minister Gen. Li Shangfu will address the Shangri-La Dialogue.

Austin’s one-on-one conversation with Wei Fenghe, Li’s predecessor, Singapore at last year’s Shangri-La Dialogue didn’t improve things between the two governments. The United States, Wei said in his address to the event, is trying to slow China’s rise and has threatened to use force to impose its claim on Taiwan.

In November, Xi Jinping of China and Joe Biden of the United States met on the margins of the Group of 20 summit of leading economies in Indonesia. However, communication has been limited to infrequent encounters on neutral ground since then.

While both countries’ defense chiefs will be in Singapore this weekend for a security conference.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken scrapped a February trip to Beijing after the United States shot down a Chinese spy balloon that had flown over American territory. Then, in Austria, he met with the top foreign policy advisor for the Communist Party, Wang Yi.

According to the Pentagon, Austin’s phone call to China about the balloon incident was rejected. Military communications have never shown any signs of development and are perpetually plagued by mistrust and allegations Singapore.

When Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen visited the United States in April, she met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, which enraged Beijing. The People’s Liberation Army of China routinely conducts military drills and deploys fighter jets, drones, Singapore and ships near Taiwan in an open display of intent to attack and weaken the island’s defenses.

Additionally, China has sent its ships and planes into the Taiwan Strait and the area around Chinese-held islands in the South China Sea in protest of U.S. Navy actions there.

SOURCE – (AP)