A senior U.S. military official confirmed that Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. had a conversation with his Chinese counterpart on Thursday morning. This marked the first high-level discussion between the two military leaders in over a year.
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Direct military contacts between China and the United States had been terminated since Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan in August 2022. However, a declared commitment to reopen military communications was made during the recent talks between President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. As a result, Gen. Brown engaged in a video call with Gen. Liu Zhenli at 6:30 a.m. ET.
According to the readout of Thursday's call, the two military leaders emphasized the significance of collaboration and maintaining open lines of communication, addressing both global and regional security matters. They specifically acknowledged the need to establish communication channels between the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command commander and his Chinese counterparts.
A senior U.S. defense official acknowledged the importance of this conversation but noted that it was not the final step. The U.S. military is currently engaged in lower-level discussions with China to ensure that the agreements reached by President Biden and Chairman Xi in November are upheld.
The official said that they are planning to arrange bilateral defense policy coordination talks, with the purpose of holding rounds of discussions under the Military Maritime Consultative Agreement (MMCA) in the spring.
Following Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, China decided to cancel the defense policy coordination talks which were supposed to be an annual dialogue. However, according to a senior U.S. defense official, these talks are expected to resume in January, with a deputy assistant secretary of defense leading the U.S. side and a major general representing the Chinese military. The last time these talks took place in person was before the Covid pandemic.
On the other hand, the MMCA (Military Maritime Consultative Agreement) talks focus on safety at sea and involve military personnel at an operational level rather than higher-ranking defense officials. A senior U.S. military official states that they aim to restart these talks in the spring.
Reopening communication through these talks is considered crucial in order to avoid misunderstandings or miscalculations, according to a senior U.S. defense official. Having open channels of communication is seen as an integral part of achieving this goal.
According to officials, they have no knowledge of any recent instances of unsafe or unprofessional conduct by the Chinese military. The most recent occurrence took place on October 24th, involving a Chinese J-11 aircraft flying within 10 feet of a US Air Force B-52 over the South China Sea. The US Indo-Pacific Command deemed this action unsafe and unprofessional due to the J-11's uncontrollable excessive speed, low altitude, and direct positioning in front of the US aircraft, which put both planes at risk of clash. This incident transpired prior to the APEC summit in San Francisco in November, and there have been no reported incidents since, according to the officials.
According to a senior U.S. defense official, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) still shows persistent behavior in many situations. An example mentioned was the recent conflict between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Philippines regarding the second Thomas Shoal. The official further said that this matter has been a repeated topic during discussions with China at different levels.
Regarding potential communication between Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and a high-ranking Chinese official, the officials were unable to confirm any plans. They also acknowledged the absence of a Chinese defense minister, with expectations that a new appointment would be announced in March.
