U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will meet his Chinese counterpart this week, the Pentagon said Friday, as Beijing wrapped up two days of large-scale military exercises around Taiwan.
The U.S. Defense Department said that Austin will travel to Singapore for the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference this week, 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 for the first time in nearly a year and a half last month, as the two sides seek to rebuild frayed military-to-military ties and manage their increasingly tense relationship.