SINGAPORE—Defense Secretary Jim Mattis held talks Thursday with China’s defense minister against a backdrop of confrontations over trade and other disputes between the Trump administration and Beijing in what officials said was an effort to halt the slide in defense relations. The 85-minute meeting between Mr. Mattis and Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe took place on the sidelines of an annually scheduled meeting of the U.S. and Asian defense ministers. In recent weeks, disputes between the world’s two largest economies...

Source: Wall Street Journal October 18, 2018 11:32 UTC