China Ignores Pentagon Phone Calls: Report

As China continues its rapid military drills around Taiwan in retaliation for US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s provocative visit to the island this week, senior Chinese military officials are refusing to heed calls from their Pentagon counterparts, according to Politico.
Beijing has reportedly rejected several appeals from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley in recent days, according to “three people aware of the attempts.” Milley’s last confirmed contact with China’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Li Zuocheng, was on July 7, while Austin met in person with China’s Defense Minister, Gen. Wei Fenghe, in June, RT reported.

On Friday, Beijing decided to cut diplomatic relations with Washington in a number of military and civilian areas. China’s Foreign Ministry has released a list of issues on which there will be no further communication between Chinese and US officials, including military contacts at the theater commander level and broader discussions on the coordination of the defense policy.

China also suspended consultations on maritime security, cooperation on the repatriation of illegal migrants, legal assistance in criminal matters, the fight against transnational crime and drug trafficking, as well as discussions on climate change, she said in a statement.