May 27, 2021(EIRNS) — There has been a bit of a ruckus in re-establishing mil-to-mil relations between China and the U.S. with the U.S. putting out the story that China is refusing a meeting. According to reports, however, China had in fact offered a meeting between the two countries’ defense ministers as a “good will gesture,” at the time the Biden administration took office. The two defense ministers have always served as the chief counterparts in the countries’ mi-to-mil relations since the establishment of such relations between the two countries. But, according to reports, Secretary of Defense Austin wants a meeting with General Xu Qiliang, the vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, of which President Xi is the chairman. The Pentagon is making the claim that the Defense Minister, Wei Fenghe, is not the most powerful person in the Chinese military, and that Xu is more important. That may be the case, but China does not accept this change of protocol, probably suspecting some devious motives.It also carries the aura of the Biden Administration’s “we set the rules” attitude. According to Global Times, Beijing considered Austin’s request an unprofessional and unfriendly act of disregarding diplomatic protocol and international common practice.
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby would not confirm Austin’s meeting requests, saying only that “We desire to have a dialogue with our counterparts in Beijing, and we’re still working our way through what that’s going to look like and how that’s going to transpire.”
