BEIJING: China on Thursday (Nov 21) blamed Washington's support for Taiwan for the failure of the two countries' defence ministers to meet this week, after US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin called Beijing's no-show "unfortunate". Multiple US media reported this week that Austin had hoped to meet his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun at a regional summit in Laos as part of efforts to maintain military contact between the two superpowers. Austin reportedly said China had declined the meeting, calling