Washington: A senior Pentagon official held talks with the Chinese military for the first time since President Joe Biden served in January to focus on risk management between the two countries, a US official said on Friday.
The United States has put China in the heart of its national security policy for years and Biden’s administration has described the competition with Beijing as “the largest geopolitical test” in this century.
The relationship between China and the United States has grown more tense, with the two largest economies in the world clashing everything from Taiwan and Chinese human rights records of their military activities in the South China Sea.
Apart from heated tension and rhetoric, US military officials have long tried to have open communication lines with their Chinese colleagues to reduce the potential flare-up or handle any accidents.
Michael Chase, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for China, spoke last week with Chinese General Huang Xueping, Deputy Director for the Office of the People’s Liberation Army for international military cooperation.
“(They) use the AS-RRC defense telephone link to conduct a safe video conference,” US officials said, talking to the terms of anonymity.
“Both parties agreed to the importance of maintaining open communication channels between the two military,” the official added.
Officials said US defense secretary Lloyd Austin had not spoken with his Chinese partner, partly because there was a debate about Chinese officials where Austin.
Vice President Kamala Harris said on Thursday that the United States welcomed competition and did not seek conflict with Beijing, but would talk about problems such as maritime disputes in the South China Sea.
China, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan claim the parts of the South China Sea, are crossed by vital shipping lines and contain rich gas fields and fishing rods.
Biden has increased sanctions in China for alleged violations of human rights in Xinjiang and Hong Kong.
In the shift from its predecessor as president, Donald Trump, Biden has been widely tried to collect allies and partners to help fight what the White House said was economic and foreign economic policies that were increasingly coercion.
China.