Media: China refused to meet the defense ministers of the two countries due to US sanctions

China considered it unlikely that Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu would meet with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the June security summit in Singapore, as the United States had previously imposed sanctions on the Chinese official. About it writes Financial Times, citing sources.

Washington said the sanctions would not prevent the U.S. and Chinese defense ministers from meeting at a summit in Singapore on June 2-4. However, according to the sources of the publication, it will be almost impossible for the Chinese authorities to agree to negotiations until the restrictions are lifted. At the same time, sources doubted that the White House would take such a step.

The Pentagon told the FT that the American side is interested in contacts with the Chinese military, but that US proposals for high-level contacts are “ignored or rejected” by Beijing.

Li Shangfu came under US sanctions in 2018 for buying Russian Su-35 fighter jets and S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems. At that time, he headed the Department of Troop Training and Supply of the Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China. In March 2023, Li Shangfu was appointed Minister of Defense of the country.

Formerly Pentagon informed about the absence of contacts between high-ranking representatives of the US Department of Defense and China since November 2022. They specified that Austin’s previous meeting with his Chinese colleague, General Wei Fenghe (at that time the Minister of Defense of the PRC) took place at an event of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Cambodia on November 22 last year . Bloomberg noted that the situation around Taiwan and the flight of a Chinese balloon over the United States influenced the relations of the countries.

At the end of April, Li Shangfu Meets with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in New Delhi. Before the start of the meeting, they briefly exchanged assessments on issues of interest. The meeting of ministers of military departments was not planned in advance.