US defense chief raises concerns about military drills around Taiwan with Chinese counterpart

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) - The US defense chief on Friday raised concerns about Beijing’s large-scale military drills around Taiwan with his Chinese counterpart, the Pentagon said.

Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met for around 75 minutes on the sidelines of the Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore.

Austin expressed “concern” about the “provocative” People’s Liberation Army (PLA) activity around the Taiwan Strait, the Pentagon said in a statement after the meeting.

The secretary “reiterated that the PRC (People's Republic of China) should not use Taiwan's political transition — part of a normal, routine democratic process — as a pretext for coercive measures,” the statement said.

Beijing launched large-scale military exercises around Taiwan last week after William Lai Ching-te was inaugurated as the new president of the self-governed island on May 20.

Reaffirming the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, Austin, underscored that Washington “remains committed to its longstanding one-China policy,” the Pentagon statement said.

In an apparent reference to the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait, he “made clear that the United States will continue to fly, sail, and operate — safely and responsibly — wherever international law allows,” it added.

Austin also discussed with Dong Russia's war on Ukraine and the “PRC's role in supporting Russia's defense industrial base.”

The US defense chief also expressed concerns about “recent provocations” from North Korea, including “its direct contributions to Russia's ongoing assault on Ukraine,” the statement said.

It was the first meeting between the Chinese and US defense chiefs since November 2022.

Earlier, the two held a phone call in April.

The meeting is part of attempts by both sides to keep communication lines open amid tensions in the disputed South China Sea as well as in the Taiwan Strait.

Dong, China’s first naval commander to be defense minister, was appointed last December.

Beijing had snapped high-level military dialogue with Washington after then-US Speaker Nancy Pelosi paid an unannounced trip to Taiwan in August 2022.

However, when Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Joe Biden met last November in San Francisco, the duo decided to resume communication lines.

While no US defense chief has visited China since Jim Mattis in 2018, the two sides held high-level military talks in November 2022 when Austin met former Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe in Cambodia.