DIALOGUE between the United States and China is “essential” and will help avoid miscalculations that could lead to conflict, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said today, after Beijing declined an invitation for a formal meeting between him and his Chinese counterpart.
Austin and Li Shangfu shook hands and briefly spoke for the first time at the opening dinner of the Shangri-La Dialogue defence summit in Singapore the night before, but the interaction fell short of the Pentagon’s hopes for a more substantive exchange.