Beijing has turned down a proposed meeting between the United States defense secretary and his Chinese counterpart. China cited objections to a U.S. arms sale to Taiwan for the snub.
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00:00China has turned down proposed talks with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during
00:05a meeting of Southeast Asian defense chiefs, a move the Pentagon chief says is unfortunate.
00:10Now, I regret that the PRC chose not to meet here. The PRC's decision is a setback for
00:18the whole region. As I've said consistently, the right time to meet is any time.
00:26Austin had sought to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Dong Jun, at the ASEAN summit
00:31in Laos in a bid to maintain military communication between Washington and Beijing. China rejected
00:37the offer, citing objections to a recent US$2 billion arms sale to Taiwan. It comes days
00:43after U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Peru for the final
00:48time before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.