The US and Chinese defense chiefs held their first face-to-face talks since 2022 on Friday on the sidelines of a major Asian security conference in Singapore, as the two sides try to manage the increasingly tense relationship between their rival countries.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defense Minister Admiral Dong Jun met ahead of the formal kick-off of the annual Shangri-La Dialogue Summit, Chinese state media reported.
The two sides were expected to discuss maintaining open lines of military-to-military communications, amid fears that the increasingly tense relationship could lead to conflict.
