US-China high-level military dialogues gather pace; new crisis meeting on horizon

In the news conference, Biden also touted his engagement with Xi.

“Like I said, I’m dealing with Xi right now, in direct contact with him,” Biden said, when asked if he would be able to deal with leaders like Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Defence Department spokesman Pete Nguyen subsequently confirmed to Task & Purpose, a US-based online publication, that senior American and Chinese military leaders had held talks, both in January and April.

The resumed inter-military communications so far include the Defence Policy Coordination Talks in January on defence relations and a Military Maritime Consultative Agreement meeting in April on how the two countries can work together on air and maritime safety, Nguyen said.

“The department will continue to engage in active discussions with PRC [People’s Republic of China] counterparts about future engagements between defence and military officials at multiple levels – including telephone conversations between theatre commanders in the coming months, as well as a convening of a crisis-communications working group by the end of the year,” Nguyen said.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun also held a teleconference call in April and a face-to-face meeting in May on the sidelines of the Shangri-La forum in Singapore. In addition, Charles Brown, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, had a telephone conversation with his Chinese counterpart Liu Zhenli in December.

But direct communications between military theatre commanders, sought by the US, have not yet been restored.

Beijing suspended communications between the two militaries in August 2022, in response to Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, which it regarded as a provocation to Chinese territorial integrity.

Relations were further strained in January and February 2023, when a Chinese balloon transited across North America, and was eventually shot down by the US Air Force. The US charged that the balloon was on a spying mission, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken cancelled a trip to China.

Beijing claimed the balloon was just an errant civilian airship used mainly for meteorological research.