The US has denied any plans to lift the sanctions on China’s defense minister.
In an apparent reversal of President Joe Biden's remarks made a day earlier while in attendance at the Group of Seven meeting in Japan, the US said that it had no intentions to ease sanctions on the Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu.
Speaking to journalists on Monday in Washington, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller flatly denied that the US administration was considering easing the sanctions against Li. Because of the restrictions, China has declined military Secretary Lloyd Austin's invitation to see Li at a military symposium in Singapore next month.
When asked whether the State Department was thinking about removing the sanctions, Miller said, "No, we are not. Biden "made clear that we are not planning to lift any sanctions on him or on China generally," the president s...