Southeast Asian defence chiefs hold discussion over regional security with US, China, other partner nations

THE ASEAN MEETINGS COME AS MEMBER NATIONS ARE LOOKING WARILY TOWARD THE CHANGE IN AMERICAN ADMINISTRATIONS AT A TIME OF INCREASING MARITIME DISPUTES WITH CHINA

Southeast Asian defence chiefs met on Thursday with their counterparts from China, the United States and other nations in Laos for security talks, which come as Beijing's increasingly assertive stance in its claim to most of the South China Sea is leading to more confrontations.

The closed-door talks put US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun in the same room, a day after Dong refused a request to meet with Austin one-on-one on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit of defence ministers.