Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese calls for dialogue between the United States and China during his keynote speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue on Friday. "Australia strongly supports the renewed efforts from President Biden's administration to establish reliable and open channels of communication between the governments of the United States of America and the People's Republic of China," he tells the gathering of defense ministers. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart Li Shangfu spoke briefly at the forum, the Pentagon said, after Beijing declined an invitation for a formal meeting. The United States had invited Li to meet Austin on the sidelines of the Shangri-la Dialogue, but China declined. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES