Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with China’s national defense minister Tuesday morning, in the latest in a series of U.S. steps to improve communications with the Chinese military and reduce unsafe and aggressive incidents in the Indo-Pacific.
Quick Read
- U.S.-China Military Communications: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin engaged in talks with China’s national defense minister, Adm. Dong Jun, marking the first such discussion since November 2022. This conversation is part of broader U.S. efforts to enhance dialogue with the Chinese military and mitigate tensions in the Indo-Pacific region.
- Context of the Call: The call coincides with Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s upcoming visit to China and follows a period of strained military-to-military contacts, which were halted by Beijing in August 2022 after Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
- Recent Developments: Diplomatic interactions between the U.S. and China saw a renewal post a meeting between President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping last November. Subsequent military communications included a video call between Gen. CQ Brown and his Chinese counterpart, the first since the freeze in communications due to Pelosi’s Taiwan visit.
- Background of Military Tensions: Austin’s call aimed to address ongoing concerns about unsafe military maneuvers and aggressive incidents in the Pacific, particularly involving U.S. and Chinese forces. This follows increased military activities by China around Taiwan and contentious interactions in the South China Sea, notably against Philippine vessels.
- Defense Dialogues and Deescalation Efforts: Both nations participated in the China-U.S. Military Maritime Consultative Agreement meeting in Hawaii earlier this month, discussing incidents involving aggressive military behavior. This meeting, the first in-person since 2019, represents a step toward mitigating risks of conflict in the region.
The Associated Press has the story:
US Pentagon chief speaks with Chinese counterpart for 1st time since Nov. 2022
Newslooks- WASHINGTON (AP) —
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with China’s national defense minister Tuesday morning, in the latest in a series of U.S. steps to improve communications with the Chinese military and reduce unsafe and aggressive incidents in the Indo-Pacific.
It was the first time Austin has talked to Adm. Dong Jun and the first time he has spoken at length with any Chinese counterpart since November 2022. The call comes as Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to travel to China this month for talks.
Washington and Beijing have been working to expand communications and ease escalating tensions. Military-to-military contact stalled in August 2022, when Beijing suspended all such communication after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, which China claims as its own.
The thaw in relations between the two world powers got a kick-start last November when President Joe Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco. About a month later, Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke with his Chinese counterpart in a video call — in the first senior military-to-military contact since the Pelosi visit.
Austin’s call with Dong has been widely anticipated, but the admiral was only appointed to the defense job in December. Previous defense minister Wei Fenghe turned down a Pentagon request to speak with Austin last year after the U.S. shot down a Chinese spy balloon that had floated across the country. Austin had previously met with Wei in 2022 on the sidelines of a defense conference in Cambodia.
Defense officials are concerned about unsafe and unprofessional incidents involving the U.S. and Chinese militaries in the Pacific.
Pelosi’s visit sparked a surge in military maneuvers by China. Beijing dispatched warships and aircraft across the median line in the Taiwan Strait, claiming the de facto boundary did not exist, fired missiles over Taiwan itself, and challenged established norms by firing missiles into Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
During the following two years, U.S. military officials repeatedly objected to a range of unsafe intercepts by Chinese aircraft in the Pacific and other dangerous incidents. Some of those confrontations have ebbed a bit, but the U.S. has been concerned about aggressive behavior by Chinese vessels against Philippine ships in the South China Sea.
A senior defense official told reporters that Austin’s call on Tuesday gives the U.S. the opportunity to prevent ongoing competition with China from veering into conflict. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide a preview of the call, said the U.S. hasn’t seen any unsafe or unprofessional intercepts of American aircraft since last November, but China’s coercive behavior toward Philippines’ ships risks escalation.
U.S. and Chinese defense officials met earlier this month in Hawaii to discuss aggressive ship and aircraft incidents between the two militaries in the Pacific region. The two-day China-U.S. Military Maritime Consultative Agreement meeting included about 18 military and civilian personnel from each side and it was the first time since 2019 that it was held in person. There was a virtual meeting in 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
