Secretary of Defense James Mattis is scheduled to sit down with the head of China's military later this week amid increased tensions between the two countries.
According to The Hill, the Pentagon confirmed Monday that Mattis and Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe will meet when the latter visits Washington, D.C. sometime this week. Col. Rob Manning, one of the Pentagon's top spokespeople, would not reveal which day the meeting will occur.
"We're still in the planning process for this," Manning said.
The Trump administration is in the midst of a trade war with China, with each country instituting tariffs on certain products. President Donald Trump's goal is to force China to drop its tariffs on U.S. goods, part of his larger strategy of making trade fair.
Militarily, China has flexed its muscles in recent years by pointing lasers at U.S. warplanes, building artificial islands in the South China Sea and arming them, and even trying to intercept a U.S. warship — which resulted in a near-collision.
Mattis and Fenghe met on the sidelines of an Asian security conference in Singapore last month to discuss a host of issues.
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