China, US officials to attend Southeast Asia defense meeting

BEIJING (AP) — The Chinese and U.S. defense chiefs will both attend next week’s expanded meeting of Southeast Asian defense ministers in Cambodia. China’s Defense Ministry says Gen. Wei Fenghe will attend the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations Defense Ministers’ Meeting-Plus from Sunday to Thursday. And the Department of Defense says Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III will also attend after stops in Canada and Indonesia. Both plan to meet with participants on the margins of the main gathering, opening up the possibility that Wei and Austin would hold a separate dialogue. Their countries are chief rivals for influence in the region, where China is seeking to smooth over disputes surrounding its claim to the South China Sea.