United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe are expected to have a meeting at the Singapore conference, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing sources. This would be the first face-to-face meeting between the two.
The news comes in the middle of high tensions between the two countries over the issue of Taiwan. Previously, US President Joe Biden expressed that Washington would interfere "militarily" in the Taiwan dispute if necessary, while Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted that the country doesn't support Taiwan's independence.
Chinese officials underscored that should the US take a "wrong path" on Taiwan, this would have grave consequences on bilateral relations.
