Amid tensions, Pentagon chief arrives in China to ‘have a conversation’
BEIJING — Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis arrived Tuesday in Beijing in the first visit to China by a Pentagon chief in four years. It comes as Beijing and Washington navigate a burgeoning trade war and tensions related to the Chinese military’s buildup in the South China Sea.
Mattis has stressed a diplomatic approach to the trip, saying Sunday, “I’m going there to have a conversation.”
“I want to understand how they see the strategic relationship developing,” Mattis told reporters that day before the first stop of his trip, in Alaska. “And so I want to go in, right now, without basically poisoning the well at this point, as if my mind’s already made up.