Pentagon chief holds first talks with senior Chinese military official

Lloyd Austin, the US defence secretary, has spoken to China’s defence minister for the first time, after Beijing rebuffed repeated requests for a call to be arranged with his proper counterpart, the top general in the Communist party politburo.

Austin spoke to General Wei Fenghe on Tuesday, the first top-level exchange between the two militaries since President Joe Biden entered office 15 months ago. Austin wrote on Twitter that the call was a “follow-up” to the call Biden held with Chinese president Xi Jinping last month.

Austin has made multiple requests to talk to General Xu Qiliang, vice-chair of the Central Military Commission, who the Pentagon says is his appropriate counterpart given that he is the most senior member of China’s defence establishment after Xi, commander-in-chief.

A US defence official said China had rejected requests for Austin to speak to Xu. He confirmed Chinese reports that the US had requested the call with Wei, who China describes as his peer. The official said the US hoped the talks would help pave the way for a later call with Xu.

The call comes at a time of heightened tensions between the two militaries over everything from China’s assertive activity around Taiwan, its rapid nuclear build-up, its development of hypersonic weapons, and its stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Financial Times reported last month that Russia had asked China for weapons to support its military campaign in Ukraine.

The US official said Austin had told Wei there would be consequences if China provided military help to Russia, echoing a warning from Biden to Xi last month. Jake Sullivan, the US national security adviser, has also warned his counterpart, Yang Jiechi, about potential repercussions.

In an interview with the FT last month, Admiral John Aquilino, the top US commander in the Indo-Pacific, warned that the Russian invasion of Ukraine underscored the threat that China poses to Taiwan.

The Austin-Wei call also comes as the US becomes increasingly concerned about a security agreement that Beijing has signed with the Solomon Islands, a South Pacific nation that has emerged as the latest strategic battleground between the US and China.

Security experts are concerned that the pact will pave the way for China to build a naval base in the country, which is closer to Hawaii and Canberra, the Australian capital, than Beijing.

Kurt Campbell, the top White House Asia official, and Dan Kritenbrink, the top state department Asia official, are heading to the Solomon Islands this week for talks with the country’s prime minister, Manasseh Sogavare, who was instrumental in pushing the security pact.

The US officials and Admiral Aquilino on Monday held talks in Hawaii with officials from Japan, Australia and New Zealand. The White House said they discussed the “serious risks” that the Solomon Islands pact posed to a “free and open Indo-Pacific”.

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