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US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told a group of top security officials that war with China is neither imminent nor inevitable despite rapidly rising tensions in the Asia-Pacific. He stressed the importance of a renewed dialogue between him and his Chinese counterpart to avoid “miscalculations and misunderstandings.”
Singapore. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told a group of top security officials on Saturday that war with China is neither imminent nor inevitable despite rapidly rising tensions in the Asia-Pacific. He also stressed the importance of renewed dialogue between him and his Chinese counterpart to avoid “miscalculations and misunderstandings”. Austin made these remarks at the Shangri-La Defense Forum in Singapore after a meeting with Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun that lasted more than an hour. Contact between the US and Chinese militaries ended after then-Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in 2022.
This is the first face-to-face meeting between the two top defense officials since then. Refusing to give details about the meeting, Austin said that the most important thing is that the two leaders are talking again. Austin said, “War or fight with China is neither imminent nor inevitable.”
“Leaders of major countries need to work together to make sure that we do things that minimize the opportunity for miscalculations and misunderstandings,” he said. “Not every conversation is a pleasant conversation, but it is important that we keep talking to each other, and it is also important that we keep supporting our allies and partners,” he said. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., addressing the same forum on Friday night, categorically said that if even a single Filipino citizen is killed during a confrontation between China and his country’s coast guard, “it will be an act of war and we will retaliate accordingly.”
Disclaimer: CricketInFocus has not edited this news. This news has been published from PTI-language feed.
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