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South China Sea: expect choppy waters when US and Chinese defence chiefs Dong Jun and Lloyd Austin meet
- Dong and Austin are set to hold talks during the Shangri-La Dialogue, the latest effort to restore military ties
- Analysts see the meeting as positive, but say the two sides are likely to dig their heels in on issues like the disputed waterway
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American and Chinese defence officials are expected to meet at a global security forum in Singapore later this week, with rising tensions in the South China Sea likely to dominate the discussion.
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The meeting is the latest effort to restore US-China military communication channels that were shut down as ties deteriorated in 2022, and to reduce the likelihood of conflict in the contested waterway.
But analysts do not expect the talks to bring any major change in stance on flashpoints like the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.
According to media reports citing US officials, Chinese Defence Minister Admiral Dong Jun will meet his American counterpart Lloyd Austin during the annual Shangri-La Dialogue, which begins on Friday.
The last time defence chiefs from the two nations met in person was in November 2022, when Austin held talks with Wei Fenghe, then China’s defence minister, in Cambodia.
What’s behind the South China Sea dispute?
Beijing refused to agree to a meeting at last year’s Shangri-La Dialogue because of US sanctions on Li Shangfu. Li was China’s defence minister at the time, but was ousted a few months later and replaced with Dong in December.
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