A meeting of defense leaders in Laos took place on Thursday, and included Southeast Asian defense chiefs, China, the United States and other partner nations. Despite China and the US both being in Laos for the meeting,

A meeting with US defense secretary Lloyd Austin was turned down by his Chinese counterpart during a high-level gathering of defense leaders in Vientiane, Laos.

Southeast Asian defense chiefs and representatives are meeting in Laos for security talks at a time of increasing maritime disputes with China in the Asia-Pacific and as the transition to a new U.S. president looms.

Representatives from the US, China, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea met their Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) counterparts Thursday in Laos for an annual meeting of defense chiefs from the bloc. The meeting kicked off Wednesday in Vientiane under the chairmanship of Laos, with meetings held on the sidelines of the event.

China rejected a meeting with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during a conference in southeast Asia this week, marking the latest turn in a tumultuous relationship between the two countries’ defense leaders.

Southeast Asian defense chiefs are meeting with China, the United States and other partner nations in Laos for security talks, which come as Beijing’s increasingly assertive stance in its claim to most of the South China Sea is leading to more confrontations.