Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with his Chinese counterpart for the first time Friday after their delegations arrived in Singapore for a defense summit in Asia.
The face-to-face meeting between Mr. Austin and Gen. Wei Fenghe, minister of National Defense for the People’s Republic of China, lasted about 30 minutes on the margins of the three-day Shangri-La Dialogue. Pentagon officials said both men discussed U.S.-Chinese defense relations and regional security issues.
“Secretary Austin discussed the need to responsibly manage competition and maintain open lines of communication,” the Pentagon said in a statement.