China’s Furious Response to US Arms Sale—No Meeting with Defense Secretary Austin

The United States continued to try to arrange a meeting with the Chinese defense ministers during a multilateral conference in Laos but to no avail. Beijing’s rejection stems from its objections to the recently approved sale of U.S. arms to Taiwan.

In a statement released on Thursday through the Defense Ministry’s official social media channels, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Senior Colonel Wu Qian stated that the U.S. cannot expect to engage with the Chinese military while undermining China’s core interests in Taiwan and that the U.S. bears full responsibility for the failed talks during the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM-Plus).

Wu urged Washington to demonstrate genuine respect for China’s core interests and work towards creating favorable conditions for high-level military exchanges between the two nations, emphasizing that the U.S.’s immediate priority is rectifying its transgressions.

CNN reported that U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had intended to meet with Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun at the eleventh ADMM-Plus in Vientiane, Laos. However, the proposed meeting did not take place.

Austin told reporters that the meeting’s failure was regrettable. It highlighted the region’s desire for dialogue between key players from two major nations, and he noted that the absence of such talks would undoubtedly impact the region.

The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced on October 25 that it plans to sell 1.988 billion dollars worth of military equipment to Taiwan. China’s Foreign Ministry claimed that China would “resolutely counteract and take all necessary measures to safeguard its national sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity.” The sale of military equipment violates the “One China” policy and infringes on China’s sovereignty and security interests.

Austin and Dong first met in May during the twenty-first Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. The meeting had drawn significant attention as it marked the first in-person contact between the two countries’ defense chiefs in eighteen months since Austin’s talks with former Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe in Cambodia in November 2022.