After carrying out war games around Taiwan in a sign to the U.S.-backed democracy’s new leader, defence secretary Lloyd Austin would meet his Chinese counterpart, Jun Dong, according to the Pentagon.

Mr Austin will meet Chinese Mr Dong when they attend the May 31-June 2 Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual gathering of defence officials around the world.

China last week encircled Taiwan with warships and fighter jets in a test of its ability to seize the island, which it claims. 

The drills followed the inauguration of President Lai Ching-te, who has vowed to safeguard self-ruling Taiwan’s democracy.

Mr Austin’s meeting with Mr Dong had been widely expected since they spoke by telephone in April, in the first substantive talks between the two powers’ defence chiefs in nearly 18 months.

President Joe Biden’s administration and China have been stepping up communication to ease friction, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken visiting Beijing and Shanghai last month.

However, defence talks had lagged until Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to resume military dialogue during a summit with Mr Biden in California in November.

Mr Austin will also travel next week to Cambodia for talks with defence ministers of the Southeast Asian Bloc ASEAN and end his trip in France, where he will join Mr Biden in commemorations of the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

The trip was announced even though Mr Austin late Friday handed over duties for about two-and-a-half hours to his deputy, Kathleen Hicks, due to his latest medical procedure.