USA and China Resumed Command-Level Military Contacts After Two-Year Hiatus

The United States and China have resumed command-level military contacts after a two-year hiatus.

The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command announced the meeting.

Yang Zhibin, commander of the Eastern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army, and Admiral Samuel Paparo, head of U.S. Pacific Command, met in Canada on the sidelines of a conference of defense chiefs from the Indo-Pacific region.

This was their first face-to-face meeting.

The parties discussed the need to maintain open lines of communication between high-ranking military officials from the USA and China.

The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command noted that such contacts are intended to reduce the risk of miscalculations and promote safe and professional conduct by the militaries of both countries.

The South China Morning Post reported that Beijing significantly reduced military contacts with the U.S. in August 2022 amid escalating tensions between the two countries over Taiwan.

Yang Zhibin heads the PLA’s Eastern Theater Command, whose area of responsibility includes, among other things, the Taiwan Strait.

Military dialogue between the two countries began to resume following a meeting between U.S. and Chinese leaders in San Francisco in 2023, when they agreed to restore direct contacts.

Last November, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced that the United States and China had agreed to establish direct military communication channels, which are intended to help prevent conflicts and reduce tensions in the event of any incidents.

According to him, the decision was made following a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea.

Following that, the U.S. minister held equally positive talks with his Chinese counterpart—China’s Minister of National Defense, Admiral Dong Jun—in Malaysia.