Relations between the United States and China cooled significantly after then US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August 2022.Beijing is "not responding to calls" from Washington to work out a joint agreement on gun control, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said in Singapore, speaking on the sidelines at the Shangri-La Dialogue regional security forum, broadcast by the US military.

“We take this (arms control) issue very seriously … As for specific contacts with the PRC on the issue of arms control, this issue needs to be discussed. As soon as they answer our calls, we will,” he said wryly. quoted by Sputniknews.In late May, media reported that Beijing rejected Washington's proposal to hold a meeting between US Defense Ministers Lloyd Austin and China Li Shanfu at the forum's headquarters in Singapore, as this the latter has been under US sanctions since 2018.

Beijing, which considers the island one of its provinces, has condemned these actions as support for Taiwanese separatism and has staged large-scale military exercises. Tensions escalated further when a Chinese balloon appeared in the US sky and was subsequently shot down. The Shangri-La Dialogue Forum kicked off in Singapore on Friday and will run until 4 June.