The Pentagon reported that the proposal for a meeting was made at the beginning of May.

 China rejected a US offer for Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to meet with his Chinese counterpart Li Shangfu at a forum in Singapore this week. This was reported by the CNN channel with reference to the statement of the Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder.

 The Pentagon said in a statement that China rejected an invitation for a meeting sent in early May.

 "China's reluctance to engage in meaningful military-to-military discussions will not diminish the Defense Department's commitment to open channels of communication with the People's Liberation Army (PLA) at multiple levels within the framework of responsible relationship management," Ryder said.

 The Chinese Embassy in the US responded by questioning the sincerity and significance of the invitation, pointing to US sanctions against Chinese officials, institutions and companies. Chinese embassy official Liu Pengyu said China always "resolutely opposes illegal unilateral sanctions and has clearly stated its tough position to the US side."

 "The American side should immediately lift sanctions and take specific actions to remove obstacles, create a favorable atmosphere and conditions for dialogue and communication," he said.

 CNN noted that this is not the first time that China has rejected proposals from US officials for meetings.

 The Reuters agency wrote that relations between the US and China fell to a minimum last year, when then Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi made an official visit to Taiwan. This angered Beijing, which considers the island its territory, and cut off official channels of communication with Washington, including the approval of military actions, according to the report.

 Tensions eased last November when US and Chinese leaders Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met at the G20 summit in Indonesia and pledged to hold more dialogue, the agency added.

 As Bloomberg reported, the Biden administration has recently been trying to make it difficult for China to say "no" to cooperation with the United States. The strategy is aimed at easing tensions between the countries and portraying Chinese leader Xi Jinping as intransigent if he refuses to cooperate.

 In particular, on May 21 at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Biden said that he expects a "thaw" in Washington's relations with Beijing, writes The Wall Street Journal.