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New York Post (22 May 2021)

Samuel Chamberlain

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has not spoken with China’s top military officials since taking office in January — despite the Pentagon’s best efforts, according to a new report.

“The military relationship is strained, no question about that. It’s hard to know how much this is reflective of that strain as much as it is just Chinese intransigence,” one US defense official told Reuters on Friday. “But we certainly want to have a dialogue. We just want to make sure we have a dialogue at the proper level.”

A second official told Reuters that the Biden administration has not been able to determine whether Austin should reach out to Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe or Beijing’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Xu Qiliang. The latter is said to have more influence with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

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