US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will meet his Chinese counterpart next week, the Pentagon said on Friday, as Beijing wrapped up two days of large-scale military exercises around Taiwan.
The US Department of Defense said Austin will travel to Singapore next week for the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference, where he will hold face-to-face talks with Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun for the first time.
The U.S. and Chinese defense chiefs held talks last month for the first time in nearly a year and a half as the two sides try to rebuild frayed military-to-military ties and manage their increasingly tense relationship.