US Defense Secretary Says He Hasn’t Spoken to Chinese Counterpart in ‘Months’

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin delivers a closing statement during a press conference at Ramstein Air Base in Ramstein, southwestern Germany, on Sept. 8, 2022. Andre Pain/AFP via Getty Images

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he and his Chinese counterpart haven’t spoken for a “couple of months.”

Wei Fenghe, China’s minister of national defense, declined to take a call from Austin after the United States on Feb. 4 shot down the Chinese surveillance balloon, Austin said in a Feb. 23 interview. He emphasized that it’s “really important” for world leaders to maintain good communication in order to “avoid misperceptions and manage crises.”

“So we hope that minister Wei will have a change of heart and schedule that call. He knows where to find me,” Austin told “CNN This Morning.”

“The last time that I talked to him was a couple of months ago.”

Tensions between the United States and China have been on the rise since the balloon, which the Chinese regime claimed was being used for meteorological purposes, was shot down by a U.S. fighter jet off the coast of South Carolina.

According to Austin, it’s possible that Chinese leader Xi Jinping was unaware of the balloon, but he said he would “let the Chinese speak for themselves.”

Austin made it clear that just because he and Wei haven’t spoken recently doesn’t mean there has been no U.S. contact with other Chinese officials.

“You just saw [Secretary of State Antony Blinken] talk to his counterpart in Munich,” he said on Feb. 23. “And so there are diplomatic lines of communication open. But I think for the military, it’s really, really important that we maintain open lines of communication.”

Following the news that the balloon was of Chinese origin, Austin conceded that there was some concern that U.S. nuclear force capabilities could have been exposed. That was because of information about the balloon’s reported path near military sites, as The Epoch Times previously reported.

“We made sure that we were buttoned down and movement was limited and communications were limited so that we didn’t expose any capability unnecessarily,” Austin said when questioned about his level of concern.

Amid a decrease in communication, the United States has made it clear to the regime in Beijing that lethal military aid to Russia would result in “consequences.”

China has a “lot of capability in terms of munitions and weapons,” Austin added, “and if they provide substantial support to Russia [with the war in Ukraine], it prolongs the conflict.”

However, “[T] here’s a reputational risk ... I’m sure China would love to enjoy a good relationship with all the countries in Europe,” he said. “And again, if you just look at the numbers of countries around the world that really think that what Russia has done is horrible.”

He said he thought it would be a “very ill-advised step for China to take.”

The Department of Defense didn’t respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.