Washington: The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that China has declined a request from the United States for a meeting between their defence chiefs on the sidelines of an annual security forum in Singapore this coming weekend.

The Pentagon informed the Journal that "overnight, the PRC informed the US that they have declined our early May invitation for Secretary (Lloyd) Austin to meet with PRC Minister of National Defence Li Shangfu in Singapore this week," adding that the department believes in open communication "to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict."

John Kirby, a spokesman for the White House, stated last week that the Defence Department was in talks to start a dialogue between Lloyd and his Chinese counterpart.

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During the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Detroit, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and her Chinese counterpart may meet, according to Kirby.

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