U.S. Air Force F16 fighter jets fly in development throughout U.S.-Philippines joint flying force workouts called Cope Thunder at Clark Air Base on May 09, 2023 in Mabalacat, Pampanga province, Philippines.
Ezra Acayan|Getty Images News|Getty Images
The chairman of U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff,Gen Charles Brown, spoke essentially with his Chinese equivalent,Gen Liu Zhenli, Thursday in the very first direct top-level engagement in between the 2 armed forces in more than a year.
This conference comes simply after President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping accepted resume top-level military interaction in their bilateral talks on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ top in San Francisco last month.
“The meeting between General Brown and General Liu is indicative of both sides’ desire to sustain more stable engagement in the months ahead, a goal that senior officials in both countries have repeatedly reiterated in the wake of the Biden-Xi meeting,” Eurasia Group’s China experts composed in a customer note.
Beijing stopped high level military interaction after the previous U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi checked out Taiwan in August 2022 as ties in between the world’s 2 greatest economies soured.
Beijing had actually rebuffed U.S. efforts to resume interaction, significantly at a local defense top in Singapore previously this year.
The resumption of direct talks comes at a time Beijing and Manila are intensifying their face-off in the South China Sea, protecting their territorial claims in the vital waterway.
Other Southeast Asian nations such as Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam likewise declare parts of the South ChinaSea Many nations have actually deepened security ties with the U.S. partially to counter China’s hostility in the area.
“The key to developing a healthy, stable, and sustainable military-to-military relationship is … a correct understanding of China,” China’s Defense Ministry stated in a readout of the Brown-Liu virtual call.
“The United States should earnestly respect China’s core interests and major concerns, and focus on promoting pragmatic cooperation and enhancing mutual understanding.”
The Chinese readout pointed out the South China Sea, prompting the U.S. to regard China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the waterway while repeating Taiwan is “purely China’s internal affairs.”
China has actually regularly preserved its claim over self-governed Taiwan and most of the South ChinaSea The Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague ruled in 2016 that China’s extensive claims in the South China Sea have no basis in global law.
“Gen. Brown discussed the importance of working together to responsibly manage competition, avoid miscalculations, and maintain open and direct lines of communication,” according to a U.S. Defense Department readout.
“Gen. Brown reiterated the importance of the People’s Liberation Army engaging in substantive dialogue to reduce the likelihood of misunderstandings,” the U.S. Defense Department included.
The U.S. has actually recorded more than 180 coercive and dangerous air intercepts versus its airplane in the area in between 2021 and 2023, according to its newest China Military Power Report.
The U.S. readout recommends that lower level military engagement in between the 2 nations might quickly resume. This includes their bilateral Defense Policy Coordination Talks, Military Maritime Consultative Agreement talks, and opening lines of interaction in between the leaders of the particular military commands in the South China Sea and the more comprehensive Pacific.
“It is unlikely that military-to-military engagement will lead the People’s Liberation Army to significantly scale back operations such as intentional intercepts of US aircraft in the South China Sea, activities that are central to China’s effort to push back US and allied military operations in the region,” Eurasia Group experts stated.
“Regular military diplomacy does, however, offer an avenue for addressing other security concerns, resolving misunderstandings, deescalating potential crises, and reducing the risk of kinetic conflict,” they included.
— CNBC’s Evelyn Cheng added to this story.
