Senior military officials from the United States and China held a virtual meeting on Thursday. This was the first such conversation in over a year, renewing hopes for a broader restoration of ties between the two militaries.
The video teleconference followed an agreement between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping last month to resume military-to-military ties. The Chinese government ceased military communications with the U.S. in 2022 after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan.
U.S. Air Force General Charles Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had a video conference call with his Chinese counterpart, People’s Liberation Army (PLA) General Liu Zhenli discussed “a number of global and regional security issues,” Brown’s office said.
Liu is the chief of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the military body responsible for China’s combat operations and planning. This marked the first talks between the two since Brown became chairman.
US stressed maintaining open lines of military-to-military communications
The two leaders discussed a range of global and regional security issues as Brown reaffirmed the importance of maintaining open lines of military-to-military communications, according to a summary of the video teleconference.
Gen. Brown also reaffirmed the importance of holding the bilateral defense policy coordination talks, holding military maritime consultative agreement talks, and opening lines of communication between the Commander of the United States Indo-Pacific Command and the commanders of the PLA Eastern and Southern Theater Commands.
“Gen. Brown discussed the importance of working together to responsibly manage competition, avoid miscalculations, and maintain open and direct lines of communication,” Joint Staff spokesperson Capt. Jereal Dorsey said. said. “Gen. Brown reiterated the importance of the People’s Liberation Army engaging in substantive dialogue to reduce the likelihood of misunderstandings.”
Senior U.S. defense officials said the initial talks are an “important step” but added that there is still more work to do to ensure open and reliable lines of communication between U.S. and Chinese military leaders. “These are the kinds of discussions that we need to have to try to avoid misunderstanding and miscalculation,” one official said.
China asks US to respect its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights
During the meeting, Liu told Brown that the “key to developing a healthy, stable, and sustainable military-to-military relationship” was that the US “must have a correct understanding of China.”
“The premise is that the United States should respect China’s core interests and major concerns, and focus on promoting pragmatic cooperation and enhancing mutual understanding,” Liu said, according to a readout released by China’s Ministry of National Defense.
Chinese general emphasized that the U.S. should respect China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights in the South China Sea. He “urged the U.S. to speak and act with caution, safeguard regional peace and stability, and contribute to the overall situation in China-U.S. relations with practical actions.”
On the Taiwan issue, Liu stated that it is China’s internal affair and that China “does not tolerate any external interference” when it comes to Taiwan. “The Chinese military will resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” said Liu.
