Austin Says He’s Had No Contact With Chinese Counterpart

Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin addresses a press conference at Ramstein Air Base, southwestern Germany, on April 21, 2023. Andre Pain/AFP via Getty Images

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told a Senate panel on May 11 that he has had no contact with the Peoples Republic of China’s (PRC) new defense minister despite repeated attempts to introduce himself.

Austin told the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Defense Subcommittee that he had several face-to-face sit-downs with former PRC Defense Minister Gen. Wei Fenghe but attempts to contact Gen. Li Shangfu, who assumed the post in March, have been rebuffed.

“I have reached out to my counterpart on a number of different occasions,” he said, noting he has sent Li Shangfu a letter and is awaiting a response.

The PRC maintains it will not agree to a face-to-face between the defense ministers unless the U.S. lifts sanctions it imposed on Li Shangfu in 2018 over imports of Russian weapons when he was a People’s Liberation Army general.

Former PRC Defense Minister Wei Fenghe (R) greets U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin during a luncheon at the 2022 Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. Roslan Rahman/ AFP via Getty Images

The Pentagon has identified the PRC as the nation’s top, or “pacing,” national security challenge. United States and Chinese warships are shadowing each other in the South China Sea, which the PRC claims belongs to China, and where it is building armed artificial islands along commercial shipping routes.

Through winter and spring, in hearings before numerous committees, Pentagon officials have explained how President Joe Biden’s $842 billion defense budget request is geared for a conflict with the PRC in the Western Pacific.

But in what is becoming a preamble qualifier to Congressional discussions on Pentagon plans to counter the PRC threat, Austin, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Mark Milley, and at least one panel member—Rep. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii)—repeated the same refrain during the hearing: “War with China is neither imminent nor inevitable.”

“History is not deterministic and war with the PRC is not inevitable,” Milley said in his testimony.

“While the PRC is clearly an increasing capable strategic competitor, it is imperative that we keep our relationship in competition and not in conflict.”

War With PRC Not ‘Inevitable’

In his written testimony, Austin said while war between the United States and PRC “is neither imminent nor inevitable,” the potential for conflict between the two powers is growing.

That is why it is important for the nations’ defense ministers to have each other’s phone numbers on speed dial, he said.

“I think it is critical when you have two countries with these type of capabilities” operating in congested, contested waters, Austin said.

“There are things we will have to address from time to time,” he continued, “and it is good to be able to pick up the phone and talk with senior people, so I will continue to work on this. I think it is really important.

“There’s no excuse for the provocative actions of the Chinese government but, at the same time, it’s not good when we aren’t talking at a high level,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said, encouraging Austin to continue efforts to contact PRC defense officials to establish “a dialogue on things we can work together on.”

Despite the rebuffs, Austin said he and Li Shangfu will both be attending the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum staged by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) June 2-4 in Singapore.

If the opportunity presents itself, he said, he’ll try to squirrel Li Shangfu into a sidebar meeting where the defense chiefs can talk in private.

“I think we need to continue knocking on this door,” Austin said.

PRC Watching Ukraine

Milley told the panel that PRC agitation and invasion threats against Taiwan—in addition to its aggression in the South China Sea to the south of the island—is being countered by boosted U.S. 7th Fleet patrols, a renewed relationship with the Philippines, and more than $150 billion to bolster defenses on Guam, among other initiatives.

It’s all being watched very closely by the PRC, Milley said. Unfolding events elsewhere involving an invasion, however, will also likely influence what the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) does in regard to Taiwan and the South China Sea.

“I think the Chinese are watching the war in Ukraine very carefully,” he said. “If [Putin] is allowed to succeed” in making Ukraine a Russian state, then the PRC could be emboldened to do so with Taiwan.

“If Putin is perceived to have lost,” Milley said, that too “will calculate into their decision-making process.”

Therefore, the better Ukraine does in warding off Russia’s invasion, the less likely PRC will invade Taiwan, he said.

“If Ukraine remains a free sovereign country with its territory intact, I think it does make the U.S. safer,” Milley said.