WASHINGTON – Top U.S. and Chinese military officials held a long-awaited call Thursday, ending a 16-month standoff during which Beijing cut all military contacts with Washington.
Air Force Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. CQ Brown and his counterpart Gen. Liu Zhenli of China’s Joint Chiefs of Staff spoke via video conference to discuss “a range of global and regional security issues,” according to the Pentagon. .
“General Brown discussed the importance of working together to responsibly manage competition, avoid miscalculations, and maintain open and direct lines of communication,” Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Navy Capt. Jereal Dorsey said in a statement.
“Gen. Brown reiterated the importance of the People’s Liberation Army engaging in substantive dialogue to reduce the likelihood of misunderstandings,” he added.
It was the first time a Pentagon official spoke with a Chinese military leader since August 2022, when then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi took a controversial trip to Taiwan.
The move angered China – which has said its number one goal is to absorb the island – and Beijing cut off dialogue with the United States.
Air Force Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. CQ Brown (pictured) and his counterpart Gen. Liu Zhenli of China’s Joint Chiefs of Staff spoke via video conference, ending a 16-month standoff. AP
The call came about a month after President Biden met with Chinese President Xi Jinping while both were in San Francisco for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
Resumpting military-to-military communications was one of the main agreements that emerged from the hours-long meeting.
Critical calls
During China’s silent treatment, defense officials repeatedly lamented the lack of contact between the two adversaries, calling it dangerous to close lines of communication in the event of a close call, a troubling interaction or other misunderstanding.
“General Brown discussed the importance of working together to responsibly manage competition, avoid miscalculations, and maintain open and direct lines of communication,” Navy Capt. Jereal Dorsey said in a statement. AP
“Beijing has consistently denied or ignored U.S. requests for defense commitments at multiple levels,” the Defense Department said. “Those concerns have been amplified as U.S. officials see increasingly provocative and risky behavior by the Chinese military.”
The point was made clear earlier this year when the US military detected a Chinese spy balloon entering US airspace.
Beijing ignored calls from the Pentagon for an explanation, opting instead to publicly deny having intentionally sent the balloon into US airspace and claim it was a civilian aircraft that veered off course.
The balloon eventually passed through US airspace from Alaska to North Carolina, where the Air Force finally shot down the surveillance craft after its week-long voyage over the country, irritating Beijing.
While Thursday’s call generated optimism, Pentagon spokesman Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder declined to say whether Liu had agreed to continue regular communication or reactivate the military-to-military emergency hotline.
“I’m not going to speak for China, but clearly… we’re going to continue to do everything we can to keep those lines of communication open,” he said.
Still, Dorsey said Brown advocated during the call for regular talks on “defense policy coordination” and opening communications between commanders of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and the eastern and southern theater commands. China.
Avoid involuntary conflicts
Brown also called for resuming the countries’ commitments to the Military Maritime Consultative Agreement, which was signed in 1998 and established a routine of regular talks between the two nations on maritime security until the relationship between the United States and China soured in 2020.
Maritime talks are critical to maintaining peace in the Western Pacific, where the U.S. Navy regularly patrols and challenges Beijing’s illegal claims to islands and reefs in the South China Sea.
It was the first time a Pentagon official spoke with a Chinese military leader since then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi took a trip to Taiwan in August 2022. AFP via Getty Images
There have been multiple close and dangerous encounters between the two nations’ navies over the past year as the Chinese military attempted to drive off American ships in international waters.
“China respects the navigation and overflight rights of all countries in the South China Sea in accordance with international law,” said Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Col. Zhang Xiaogang. “However, we firmly oppose any actions that undermine China’s sovereignty and security in the name of freedom of navigation and overflight.”
These risks also extend to the air. Between 2021 and 2023, the United States saw China conduct more than 180 “coercive and risky air interceptions” with US military aircraft in the region, according to the Pentagon’s latest China Military Power report.
“Defense officials have noted a sharp increase in aggressive and risky interceptions by China of U.S. aircraft operating in international airspace in accordance with international law,” according to the Department of Defense.
Between 2021 and 2023, the United States saw China conduct more than 180 “coercive and risky air interceptions” with US military aircraft in the region, according to a Pentagon report. REUTERS The Pentagon spokesman, Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder declined to say whether Liu had agreed to reactivate the military-to-military emergency hotline. fake images
If lines of communication remain open, the Pentagon hopes to avoid miscalculations after such encounters that could otherwise inadvertently spark conflict, or even war.
While Brown “regularly communicates with defense chiefs around the world,” Dorsey said, it was the first time he had received such a high-profile call since taking over from Army Gen. Mark Milley in September.
“[He] remains open to constructive dialogue with the People’s Republic of China,” Dorsey said, using China’s official acronym.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn