U.S., China Resume In-Person Military Policy Coordination Talks

(Bloomberg) -- US and Chinese defense officials held policy coordination talks at the Pentagon on Monday and Tuesday — the first such in-person meetings since before the coronavirus pandemic.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for China, Taiwan, and Mongolia Michael Chase met at the Pentagon with Major General Song Yanchao, deputy director of China’s Central Military Commission Office for International Military Cooperation, according to a Defense Department spokesman.

Chase emphasized the importance of maintaining contacts between Washington and Beijing to avoid potentially dangerous miscalculations, according to Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Martin Meiners. 

He stressed the need for safe operations in the Indo-Pacific region and said “the United States will continue to fly, sail, and operate safely and responsibly wherever international law allows” and affirmed American commitments to regional and global allies.

According to the Pentagon’s summary of the talks, Chase also urged respect for international law governing freedom of navigation “in light of repeated PRC harassment against lawfully operating Philippine vessels in the South China Sea,” a reference to the People’s Republic of China, the country’s formal name. 

Chase and Song discussed Russia’s war on Ukraine and North Korea’s “recent provocations,” and Chase restated the US commitment to its one-China policy and “peace and stability across” the Taiwan Strait.

The policy coordination talks are meant to be held annually, but were canceled by Beijing following then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August 2022.

Earlier: Top US, Chinese Military Officials Speak Amid Warming Ties

The January conversation follows a Dec. 21 video call between General Charles Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his Chinese counterpart, Chief of the Joint Staff Department General Liu Zhenli.

The two countries’ defense officials have pledged to restore military-to-military contacts, following through on an agreement struck by President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping when they met in California in November.

Pentagon officials said last month that coordination is underway for further engagements between senior American and Chinese officials. A round of maritime consultations is slated for the spring.

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