(Adnkronos) – The back and forth between China and the United States over the missed meeting between the defense ministers on the sidelines of the Asean summit in Laos continues. The Asian giant points the finger at Washington’s support for Taiwan, a de facto independent island that for Beijing is a “rebel province” to be “reunified” and which the United States is committed to supporting in defense in the name of “democracy”.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, CNN reported in recent days citing a US official, would have liked to meet with Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun in Laos, but the People’s Republic rejected the offer of talks – shortly after the face-to-face between Xi Jinping and Joe Biden in Peru – in reference to the sale of US arms to Taiwan.
An “unfortunate” decision, Austin himself told reporters yesterday. And this morning the spokesman for the Beijing Defense Ministry, Wu Qain, replied by accusing Washington of being “solely responsible” for what happened.
“The United States cannot harm China’s fundamental interests by selling arms to Taiwan while at the same time pretending nothing is wrong and seeking military-level contacts with China,” he said in remarks reported by China’s official Xinhua news agency.
The invitation, reiterated to the US, is to “immediately correct the mistakes, respect the interests” of the People’s Republic and “create favorable conditions for high-level military exchanges between the parties”.
