US and China defense chiefs set to hold rare direct talks in Singapore | DW News

The US and Chinese defense chiefs are set to hold rare direct talks in Singapore this weekend. The expected meeting between Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun will take place at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a security forum that's become a barometer of US-China relations. If they go ahead, they'll be the first first substantive face-to-face talks between US and Chinese defense chiefs in 18 months. It's hoped an open dialogue between two of the world's most powerful militaries will prevent confrontations in the region from spinning out of control – especially the flashpoint disputes over Taiwan and the South China Sea. For more on this, we talk to Oriana Skylar Mastro, an expert on Chinese politics. She is currently a fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University and also with the Cárnegie endowment for international peace. Her book "Upstart. How China Became a Great Power" looks at how China has successfuly competed for power in the past 3 decades. And we talk to Harrison Prétat. He is deputy director and fellow with the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 00:00 Intro and report 04:00 Interview with Oriana Skylar Mastro 11:35 Interview with Harrison Prétat Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/user/deutschewelleenglish?sub_confirmation=1 For more news go to: http://www.dw.com/en/ Follow DW on social media: ►Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deutschewellenews/ ►Twitter: https://twitter.com/dwnews ►Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dwnews ►Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/dwnews_hangout Für Videos in deutscher Sprache besuchen Sie: https://www.youtube.com/dwdeutsch #China #USA #SouthChinaSea