US and China Defense Chiefs Meet Face-to-Face for First Time Since Pelosi's Taiwan Visit

Lloyd Austin, U.S. Secretary of Defense. (Photo by Reuters)

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] The defense chiefs of the United States and China held their first face-to-face meeting since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan. This is the second meeting between the two ministers this year.

On the 22nd, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chinese Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe met and began talks at the 9th ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) held in Cambodia, according to major foreign media reports.

An anonymous U.S. official stated that the face-to-face meeting between the two ministers began at 10 a.m. local time that day.

The meeting between the two ministers comes five months after their first face-to-face meeting at the Shangri-La Dialogue, the Asia-Pacific's premier security conference, in June, and is the first since Speaker Pelosi's trip to Taiwan.

Key agenda items at the meeting are expected to include North Korea's seventh nuclear test and the Taiwan issue.

The day before, U.S. Department of Defense spokesperson Patrick Ryder issued a statement saying, "Secretary Austin has frequently emphasized the importance of keeping communication channels open between the U.S. and China, and he welcomes the opportunity to meet his counterpart in Cambodia."

Chinese Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Tan Kefei also indicated the possibility of a bilateral meeting by stating on the 20th, "China is taking a proactive and open attitude toward exchanges with the United States at the 9th ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting-Plus, and both sides are maintaining cooperation."

When Pelosi, the third highest-ranking official in the U.S. power hierarchy, visited Taiwan in August, China strongly opposed it as interference in its internal affairs and escalated tensions by conducting military exercises in the Taiwan Strait.

ADMM-Plus is a regional representative multilateral security consultation body attended by defense ministers from the 10 ASEAN countries and eight major Asia-Pacific countries including South Korea and the United States. This meeting, held under the theme "Solidarity for Harmonious Security," is being conducted in person for the first time in three years since the COVID-19 pandemic.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.