China Rebuffs U.S. Reports That They Are Avoiding US Defense Secreary of Defense Lloyd Austin's Phone Calls

Two warships attached to a naval frigate flotilla under PLA's Southern Theater Command carry out coordination drill during a maritime combat training exercise on April 21, 2021. Photo: China Military Online

Global Times: Accusation of China rebuffing military talks with US ‘aims to shift blame’

Some US officials recently accused China of rebuffing the US Defense Department's requests for high-level military talks amid tensions in the Taiwan Straits and the South China Sea, but it is the US that violated diplomatic etiquette - first by asking for unequal talks, and now by attempting to shift the blame to China, Chinese experts said on Sunday.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has made three requests to speak to Xu Qiliang, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, but China has refused to engage, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing three unidentified US officials.

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WNU Editor: China is saying that US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is tring to call the wrong person ....

.... many Chinese military experts reached by the Global Times on Sunday pointed out that if Austin, as the US Defense Secretary, wants to speak to his Chinese counterpart, that person should be Wei Fenghe, who is a Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister, and not CMC Vice Chairman Xu.

WNU Editor: China does have a point. But China also has a long history of demanding foreign policy protocols be bent to accommodate them .... China’s Foreign Minister demanded meeting with Trudeau (Globe and Mail).