The Pentagon: China rejected an American invitation to a meeting between the defense ministers of the two countries in Singapore
The Pentagon announced that China has rejected a US invitation to hold a meeting between US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart, Li Changfu, on the sidelines of a security forum in Singapore.
And the Pentagon said - in a statement reported by the American (Al-Hurra) channel today, Tuesday, that "Beijing's unwillingness to participate in meaningful discussions will not reduce the Pentagon's commitment to searching for lines of communication at multiple levels with the Chinese army."
The statement indicated that "the US Department of Defense believes in the importance of maintaining open lines of military communication between Washington and Beijing with the aim of ensuring that competition does not turn into conflict."
