US and China restore military dialogue
The United States and China restored communications between their two militaries on Thursday, as President Biden’s senior military adviser, Gen. Charles Q. Brown, held a video conference with his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Liu Zhenli.
The call marked an important step in the relationship between two of the most powerful militaries in the world. The Pentagon and the Chinese military have had frosty relations in recent years amid tensions over Taiwan and the South China Sea.
Relations deteriorated further earlier this year after the Pentagon shot down a Chinese spy balloon that crossed the continental United States.
But within days of taking over as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff this fall, General Brown wrote a letter to his Chinese counterpart saying the United States was open to resuming military-to-military communications that Beijing shut down last year suspended in protest against chairman Nancy. Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
Thursday’s call came a month after Mr Biden and President Xi Jinping of China agreed to resume dialogue at a summit in the San Francisco area.
“General Brown discussed the importance of working together to responsibly manage competition, avoid miscalculations, and maintain open and direct lines of communication,” Capt. Jereal Dorsey, the spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in an email to reporters .
He said General Brown “reiterated the importance of the People’s Liberation Army engaging in substantive dialogue to reduce the possibility of misunderstandings.”
The two military leaders discussed various global and regional security issues, Capt. Dorsey said.
China’s Ministry of Defense said in its report of the call that General Liu emphasized that “the key to developing a healthy, stable and lasting military-to-military relationship is for the United States to have a correct understanding of China.”
In October, a Pentagon report accused the Chinese military of taking increasingly dangerous actions to deter U.S. forces in the Asia-Pacific region, including aerial maneuvers over the South China Sea intended to intimidate U.S. military aircraft.
Beijing has long opposed U.S. military aircraft and ships operating in international skies and waters near China.
The report also said China continued to build up its strategic nuclear arsenal and had likely amassed 500 nuclear warheads by May, an increase of about 100 from last year’s estimate.