A senior Chinese military official has held a video conference with an American counterpart in which they discussed issues such as Taiwan and the South China Sea, marking the resumption of high-level military dialogue between the two powers after more than a year.
Liu Zhenli, a member of the Central Military Commission and chief of staff of its Joint Staff Department, told US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Charles Brown on Thursday that the two armed forces should “carry out exchanges and cooperation on the basis of equality and respect, and jointly promote the stabilization and improvement of bilateral relations,” according to a statement published Thursday night by China’s Ministry of Defense.
However, the Chinese representative stressed that the Taiwan issue is “purely China’s internal affairs,” that Beijing “does not tolerate any external interference,” and that the Chinese army “will resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Liu urged the US to “respect China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea,” waters whose sovereignty Beijing claims almost in its entirety and in which incidents with Philippine vessels have been reported in recent weeks, events that have been condemned by Washington.
He also indicated that the key to developing “healthy, stable and sustainable” military-to-military relations is for the US to “have a correct understanding of China,” with the premise that the North American country “should earnestly respect China’s core interests and major concerns, and focus on promoting pragmatic cooperation and enhancing mutual understanding.”
According to a statement published by the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, the US representative “discussed the importance of working together to responsibly manage competition, avoid miscalculations, and maintain open and direct lines of communication” and “reiterated the importance of the People’s Liberation Army engaging in substantive dialogue to reduce the likelihood of misunderstandings.”
High-level military dialogue between the two powers was suspended by Beijing after then-US House speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August 2022, a trip that angered Chinese authorities.
The Chinese and American presidents, Xi Jinping and Joe Biden, respectively, agreed to resume dialogue during their meeting in November on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco.
Relations between China and the US are experiencing a slight thaw after months of hostilities over Taiwan, the trade war, technological competition and new episodes of mutual sanctions, among other issues
By Nadeem Faisal Baiga
