BEIJING/WASHINGTON -- U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe on Thursday discussed ways to avoid unintended military encounters as both sides step up military activity in the South China Sea amid heightened tensions over trade.
The two officials spoke for about an hour and a half, 30 minutes longer than planned, on the sidelines of a meeting in Singapore among defense ministers of Association of Southeast Asian Nation members and other dialogue partners.
