Lloyd Austin, US Defense Secretary.
Washington: The US has also become cautious after the recent war exercises conducted by China to put pressure on Taiwan and the all-round encirclement of the island. Meanwhile, tensions between China and Taiwan have reached a peak. In such a situation, US Defense Minister Lloyd Austin is going to meet his Chinese counterpart Admiral Dong Jun at a defense conference in Singapore next week. The Pentagon, the headquarters of the US Defense Department, announced this on Friday. This will be the first meeting between the two leaders after talking on the phone in April.
The Pentagon said Austin underwent a medical procedure at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Friday evening. Austin has been suffering from bladder problems that arose after prostate cancer treatment in December. The Pentagon said the medical procedure was successful and Austin has returned home and is resuming work. Pentagon press secretary Major General Pat Ryder said, “No changes are expected to his official schedule at this time.”
Defense ministers of more than 50 countries will meet
Austin and Chinese Defense Minister Dong are expected to meet next week in Singapore during the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual meeting of defense ministers and government officials from more than 50 countries. The two governments have increased contact with each other after US President Joe Biden hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping in California in November and stressed the need to continue dialogue. (AP)
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