WASHINGTON: The United States and China have concluded two days of military discussions in Washington, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.
The talks were the latest engagement between the two states since they agreed to resume military-to-military relationship.
Last year U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to resume the engagement that had been severed by Beijing over the visit of the then-House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan in August 2022.
The Pentagon said, that Michael Chase, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for China, met with China’s Major General Song Yanchao, deputy director of the central military commission office for international military cooperation. It said these were the 17th U.S.-China defense policy cooperation talks.
The statement added the two sides discussed defense ties while Chase underscored the importance of maintaining open lines of military-to-military engagements.
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Last month the top U.S. military officer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Charles Q. Brown, held a virtual discussion with his Chinese counterpart, General Liu Zhenli.
Pentagon officials say engagement between the two militaries is crucial to prevent a conflict.
U.S. officials have warned that even with some resumptions of military communications, broad based functional dialogue between the two countries could take time.
Diplomatic ties between China and US are still recovering after the U.S. downed an alleged Chinese spy balloon in February. Both countries are at loggerheads due to their policies on Taiwan, which China claims to be its territory.
