WASHINGTON — Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke with his Chinese counterpart on Thursday, in the first of what officials say will be renewed talks between the two nations' senior military leaders as the Biden administration works to improve relations to thaw with Beijing. .
The video call between Brown and General Liu Zhenli is the first military communication between the US and China since August 2022, when Beijing suspended all such contacts following former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan. It comes in the wake of similar talks between top US and Chinese diplomats, all following last month's meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Biden's meeting with Xi, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco, was aimed in part at resetting military talks amid escalating concerns about frequent unsafe or unprofessional incidents between the US's ships and aircraft two countries in the Pacific Ocean. .
Brown and Liu “discussed the importance of working together to responsibly manage competition, avoid miscalculations and maintain open and direct lines of communication,” Navy Capt. Jereal Dorsey, Brown's spokesman, said in a statement.
The US has consistently viewed military communications with China as crucial to prevent any missteps between its forces and maintain a peaceful region in the Indo-Pacific region.
Brown's call marks the first Cabinet-level communication with China since Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on December 6.
While few other details about Brown's call were released, a senior U.S. defense official and a senior military official said it was an important first step. These are the kinds of discussions the U.S. should have with China, they said, to avoid misunderstandings or miscalculations as the two militaries work together. The two officials spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity to provide information before the call.
They said the US is talking to China at various levels to work out a series of calls and meetings in the coming weeks and months. These include plans to hold bilateral defense policy coordination talks early next year and the possible resumption of talks on the China-US Military Maritime Consultative Agreement in the spring.
During the call, Brown reaffirmed the importance of holding the policy and maritime conversations and opening lines of communication with top Pacific commanders from the two countries, Dorsey said in his statement.
In August 2022, Beijing suspended all military contacts with the US as Pelosi became the highest-ranking US lawmaker to visit Taiwan since 1997, when then-Speaker Newt Gingrich traveled there. Her visit sparked a wave of military maneuvers by China. Beijing sent warships and aircraft across the median line in the Taiwan Strait, claiming the de facto border did not exist, fired missiles over Taiwan itself and challenged established norms by firing missiles into Taiwan's exclusive economic zone Japan.
There has also been an increase in what the Pentagon calls high-risk Chinese aircraft and warship incidents. The Defense Department in October released video footage of some of the more than 180 interceptions of U.S. warplanes by Chinese aircraft that have taken place over the past two years — more than the total number in the past decade. In one of the more recent incidents, a Chinese pilot flew within 10 feet of a U.S. Air Force B-52 conducting routine operations over the South China Sea in international airspace.
While officials touted the Brown-Liu call as an important first step, the Pentagon has continued to express concerns about China's aggressive military interactions in the Indo-Pacific and has worked to build alliances with other countries in the region.
Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with defense chiefs from Australia and the United Kingdom to forge a new agreement to increase technology cooperation and information sharing, as part of a broader effort to curb the rapidly growing influence of China in the Indo-Pacific.
The new technology deal is the next step in broadening military cooperation with Australia, including plans to help equip Sydney with a fleet of eight nuclear-powered submarines. And defense leaders pointed to China's efforts to restrict freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific as a reason to strengthen their cooperation.
Also earlier this week, Admiral John Aquilino, head of the US Indo-Pacific Command, expressed concern about increased joint military actions by China and Russia in the region. Speaking in Tokyo, he said it goes far beyond a “marriage of convenience” between Beijing and Moscow, and urged China to stop escalating maritime confrontations with its neighbors.
China's Defense Ministry, meanwhile, has criticized the US for its interference in both Taiwan and the South China Sea, accusing US arms sales to Taiwan of making the situation more dangerous.