US defence chief Lloyd Austin pledges to hold more talks with China, says dialogue is ‘not a reward but a necessity’
Washington is seeking peaceful resolution of disputes through dialogue, “not coercion and certainly not through so-called punishment”, US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin said on Saturday, stressing the importance of alliances and partnership in the Indo-Pacific.
In a speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore about US strategic partnerships in the region, Austin said “dialogue is not a reward but a necessity” and pledged to hold more talks with China.
“The key issue is that we’re talking. And as long as we’re talking, we’re able to identify those issues that are troublesome and [ …] we want to make sure that we place guardrails to ensure that there are no misperceptions or miscalculations,” Austin said.
He added that if his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun calls with an urgent matter, “I will answer the phone. And I certainly hope that he’ll do the same”.
Austin met the Chinese defence minister on Friday on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue. It was the first bilateral meeting between the two countries’ defence chiefs in two years.
During the meeting, Austin emphasised the “importance of maintaining open lines of military-to-military communication” between Washington and Beijing and “welcomed plans to convene a crisis-communications working group by the end of the year”, according to a Pentagon press release.
Austin’s remarks came after the People’s Liberation Army conducted joint military drills surrounding Taiwan last week, which it referred to as a “punishment” for Taipei’s “separatist acts” after the inauguration of new Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te.
Austin expressed “concern about recent provocative PLA activity around the Taiwan Strait” and reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability near the self-ruled island.
“[Beijing] should not use Taiwan’s political transition – part of a normal, routine democratic process – as a pretext for coercive measures,” Austin said.
