The defense chiefs of the United States and China had a meeting today, November 22, 2022, on the sidelines of a regional meeting in Cambodia to address strained bilateral relations as well as regional and global security issues.

It was the second face-to-face meeting in six months between United States Secretary of Defense, Lloyd J. Austin II and Gen. Wei Fenghe, China’s Minister of National Defense.

The deliberation occurred just over a week after a meeting in Indonesia between United States President, Joe Biden and Chinese President, Xi Jinping which was widely perceived as an effort to ease tensions between the two superpowers over trade and China’s claim to Taiwan.

Austin and Wei are in Siem Reap, Cambodia. They are attending a meeting of defense ministers from the Association of South-east Asia Nations and other major countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

The sour relations between Washington and Beijing worsened in August when United States House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, which is independently governed but claimed by China.

The United States maintains a longstanding “one China” policy, which recognizes the government in China but allows informal relations and defense ties with Taipei.

The country which is Taiwan’s most important ally, also maintains “strategic ambiguity” over whether it would respond militarily if the island were attacked.

President Biden disclosed after his meeting with Xi Jinping that when it comes to China, the United States will “compete vigorously, but I’m not looking for conflict.”

Pentagon Press Secretary, Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, intimated that Austin assured Wei of Biden’s commitment to the “one China” policy.

Austin “underscored his opposition to unilateral changes to the status quo” and called on China to refrain from destabilizing actions toward Taiwan, Ryder said.

Additionally, Ryder urged for more talks on “reducing strategic risk, improving crisis communications, and enhancing operational safety,” while expressing concerns over “dangerous behavior” by Chinese military aircraft “that increases the risk of an accident.”

A Concrete Measure To Implement Important Consensus – Senior Col. Tan Kefei

In a news conference, Chinese Defense Ministry Spokesperson, Senior Col. Tan Kefei, described the meeting “as a concrete measure to implement the important consensus reached between Xi and Biden.”

Kefei divulged that the meeting was “of great significance” for bringing China and United States relations “back to the track of healthy and stable development.”

However, an official statement issued by China’s Defense Ministry quoted Wei as saying, “The responsibility for the current situation facing China-U.S. relations is on the U.S. side, not on the Chinese side.”

Wei said the issue of Taiwan was a “red line” over which China would tolerate no foreign interference. China’s military “has the backbone, the determination, the confidence and the ability to resolutely safeguard the unity of the motherland,” Gen. Wei Fenghe reiterated.

The Defense Ministry statement said the two sides also exchanged views over the South China Sea, Ukraine and the Korean Peninsula, without giving details.

The U.S. statement revealed that Austin discussed Russia’s war against Ukraine and noted that both United States and Beijing “oppose the use of nuclear weapons or threats to use them.”