Chinese Defense Minister Ready to Hold Meeting With Pentagon Chief
Chinese Defense Minister Gen. Wei Fenghe speaks during the fourth plenary session of the 18th International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-la Dialogue, an annual defense and security forum in Asia, in Singapore, Sunday, June 2, 2019. 
BEIJING (Sputnik) – Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe is ready to hold a meeting with his US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, on the sidelines of the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) this week, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Tan Kefei said on Sunday.”The Chinese side is proactive and open to exchanging views with the United States during the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting with Dialogue Partners, and the relevant agencies of the two sides are in contact and in coordination on this issue,” the statement said.On Saturday, the defense ministry said that Wei would take part in the ninth ADMM-Plus from November 20-24 in Cambodia.US-China relations were strained in recent months due to visits by US lawmakers, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, to Taiwan despite objections from Beijing. The disagreement resulted in increased Chinese military activity around the island, as well as condemnation of the trips.The ADMM-Plus is a platform for cooperation between the defense ministries of ASEAN and its eight dialogue partners — Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the US — created in April 2010.
