The two defense officials spoke for more than an hour Friday in the hotel hosting the forum, which is attended by defense officials from around the world and which has become, in recent years, a barometer of relations between United States and China.
After the meeting, Lloyd Austin said that telephone conversations between American and Chinese military commanders would resume “in the coming months.” Lloyd Austin thus “reaffirmed” the commitment made by Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping during a summit in San Francisco in November 2023 to resume telephone conversations at commander level in the coming months.
“The Chinese People’s Liberation Army has always been an indestructible force”
Beijing, for its part, welcomed the “stabilization” of relations between the two countries. But Dong Jun also underlined on Sunday China’s determination to defend its claimed sovereignty over Taiwan. “The Chinese People’s Liberation Army has always been an indestructible and powerful force in defending the unification of the motherland, and it will act with determination and force at all times to curb Taiwan’s independence and ensure that “She never succeeds in her attempts,” Dong Jun said.
The Chinese official warned that Beijing’s restraint in the South China Sea had “limits”, following a series of skirmishes between Chinese and Philippine ships in a disputed area. “China has shown sufficient restraint in the face of rights violations and provocations, but there are limits to this,” Dong Jun said.
Chinese coast guard ships have used water cannons against Philippine boats several times in waters that Beijing almost entirely claims, and collisions have injured several Filipino soldiers.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who arrived in Singapore on Saturday, is due to speak at the forum on Sunday morning and have meetings with several officials, including the American Minister of Defense.
