China Rejects US Request for Defense Chiefs Meeting at Key Summit in Singapore
- US had requested meeting between Austin and Li in Singapore
- Relations strained by tech and Taiwan, spying allegations
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China declined a US request for the countries’ defense chiefs to meet this week, Beijing’s latest rebuff of the Biden administration’s efforts to restore ties with key officials amid heightened tensions.
The US had proposed in May that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin meet his counterpart Li Shangfu in Singapore during the Shangri-La Dialogue, a marquee Asia-Pacific security gathering.