U.S. defense chief won't meet Chinese officials in Jakarta: Pentagon

JAKARTA -- U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will not meet with any Chinese officials on the sidelines of a security conference in Indonesia this week, the Pentagon said on Tuesday, as presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping head into a long-awaited summit.

Austin has arrived in Jakarta to attend the ASEAN Defense Ministers Plus conference. A senior U.S. defense official told reporters last week that Austin requested a meeting with a Chinese defense minister on the margins of the forum.