The Latest Breaking News from Lloyd Austin

Brief smiles and handshakes by U.S. and Chinese military leaders at a luxury hotel in Singapore on Friday belie a deep freeze in communications between the two armed forces that is becoming a growing worry at the Pentagon.

A U.S. official says CIA Director William Burns went to Beijing in May to meet with Chinese counterparts

The Shangri-La Dialogue attracts military officers, diplomats, arms makers and security analysts from around the globe.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin shook hands with China's Minister of National Defense Li Shangfu on the sidelines of a security summit in Singapore but the two did not have a "substantive exchange," the Pentagon said on Friday.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has told a regional security forum that dialogue is a vital “guardrail” in dealing with China, and praised US President Joe Biden’s effort to establish “reliable and open” US-China channels of communication.

Tensions have again been rising between Beijing and Washington, prompting the prime minister to use his keynote address at a peak regional security summit to call for improved dialogue between the two powers as a precondition for peace.

China has refused to let its defense minister meet formally with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. However, the two defense chiefs did briefly exchange words and shook hands before Friday's dinner.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Friday called for greater engagement between the United States and China, saying a breakdown in dialogue between the superpowers could have devastating consequences for the world.

As the United States and China vie to establish new partnerships and expand influence with Asia-Pacific nations, the top defense officials from both nations are preparing to try to win support this weekend from their regional counterparts, diplomats and leaders at a security forum in Singapore

Procurement could court controversy because export rules ban Japanese companies from selling lethal weaponry overseas.

The United States is seeking to secure supplies of TNT in Japan for 155mm artillery shells, as Washington rushes weapons and ammunition to Ukraine for a counteroffensive against Russian forces, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.