(Dan Tri) – The Chinese Embassy calls on the US to lift sanctions so the two sides can resume high-level military negotiations.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin shook hands and had a short exchange with his Chinese counterpart Li Shangfu at the Shangri-La Dialogue in early June (Photo: Reuters).
`The US side clearly knows the reasons leading to difficulties in military relations with China. They have imposed unilateral sanctions on China,` Bloomberg quoted a Chinese Embassy spokesman in Beijing as saying.
`Such obstacles need to be removed before there can be any exchange and cooperation between the two countries,` the spokesman added.
Mr. Liu did not specifically mention US sanctions against China, however, according to Bloomberg, the Chinese diplomat `likely mentioned` the restrictive measures imposed on the Chinese Defense Minister.
In 2018, Mr. Li Thuong Phuc was among the Chinese officials imposed sanctions by President Donald Trump’s administration.
Mr. Ly is accused of being involved in the purchase of 10 Su-35 fighters and advanced S-400 air defense missile systems from Russia.
Mr. Li was appointed Minister of Defense of China in March. Since then, the Office of US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has repeatedly called for dialogue with the new Chinese Defense Minister, but Beijing refused to offer.
The US proposal to organize a meeting between the two Defense Ministers on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in June was also rejected by Beijing.
According to Bloomberg sources, Chinese officials have privately told their US counterparts that the two countries’ defense ministers cannot talk as long as sanctions remain in effect.
Mr. Ely Ratner, US assistant secretary of defense in charge of Indo-Pacific security issues, said the Pentagon’s efforts to reach out to the Chinese military in recent months have been rejected.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed on June 19, although he repeatedly mentioned the need to establish a military communication line between the US and China to resolve the crisis and quickly cool tensions.
Relations between Washington and Beijing have become tense since August 2022 after then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan despite China’s strong objections.
Tensions continued to escalate recently when the Chinese government announced in May that products manufactured by US chip firm Micron posed national security risks and would be banned from being sold to infrastructure operators.
