(Reuters) -China has rejected a request by the US for a gathering between their protection chiefs on the sidelines of an annual safety discussion board in Singapore this coming weekend, the Wall Avenue Journal reported on Monday.
“In a single day, the PRC knowledgeable the U.S. that they’ve declined our early Might invitation for Secretary (Lloyd) Austin to fulfill with PRC Minister of Nationwide Protection Li Shangfu in Singapore this week,” the Pentagon stated in an announcement to the Journal, including the division believes in open communication “to make sure that competitors doesn’t veer into battle.”
Final week, White Home spokesman John Kirby stated there have been discussions by the Protection Division to get a dialog going between Lloyd and his Chinese language counterpart.
Kirby additionally stated there was the potential of a gathering between U.S. Commerce Consultant Katherine Tai and her Chinese language counterpart throughout the Asia-Pacific-Financial Cooperation (APEC) assembly in Detroit.
(Reporting by Urvi Dugar in BengaluruEditing by Chris Reese and Deepa Babington)