U.S. officials said that the sanctions on the new Chinese defense minister Li Shangfu at present will not hinder him to hold a formal meeting with the United States; the US government does not consider exemption or abandon the sanctions on Li Shangfu.

In 2018, the United States imposed sanctions on Li Shangfu based on the sanctions counterattack counterattack.

The US State Department said that US sanctions are related to China ’s purchase of SU-35 fighters in 2017 and equipment related to air-missile systems related to S-400 in 2018.

According to Voice of the United States, a US State Department spokesman said that "according to the sanctions of the US opponent's bill to counterattack by the sanctions, the sanctions may not be prohibited from meeting with US government officials."

The spokesman was asked whether the existing sanctions would ban Li Shangfu from going to the United States to hold a formal meeting: "According to US law, visa records are confidential. Therefore, we cannot discuss the details of individual visa cases.

It is reported, but for Beijing, the United States ’s sanctions against Li Shangfu are regarded as a good -faith gesture, and the sanctions may be considered a key step in the restoration of military dialogue between the two countries.

Li Shangfu served as Minister of Defense on March 12.The United States has not suggested that Li Shangfu and US Secretary of Defense Austin made calls.Since November 2022, the United States and China have not held a military dialogue at the Minister of Defense.

Experts interviewed said that sanctions should not be a reason for opposition to conflict negotiations.

Dennis Wilder, a professor of Asian research at Georgetown University in the United States, said in an interview with VOA, "Our Minister of Defense and the Chinese Defense Minister's recent meeting were held in third countries, such asAt the Shangri -La dialogue in Singapore ".

He said, "In this case, even if General Li was sanctioned, there was no reason not to hold a meeting, because the meeting in the third country made these sanctions no sense."

A spokesman for the Pentagon Building said that due to the current sanctions, Li Shangfu was still banned from conducting any US property interests, capital transfer, payment or foreign exchange exchange in the United States, but the Bayeng government continued to seek to seek with the Chinese military leaders.Perform public communication to ensure that competition will not spread to conflict.

A spokesman added that despite being sanctioned, Austin "can still carry out official duties with General Lee."