Biden and Xi meeting
USA and China resume military communication
November 16, 2023, 2:59 a.m
Relations between Washington and Beijing have been frosty for years, and the lines between the military have no longer worked properly in recent months. The US government fears that dangerous misunderstandings could arise. Now both sides want to talk to each other again.
After a long period of radio silence, the USA and China want to resume communication between the armed forces of both countries. US President Joe Biden announced this after a meeting with China’s head of state Xi Jingping in Woodside, south of San Francisco. The step is of “critical importance,” Biden said. Without communication, accidents and misunderstandings could occur.
According to the accompanying press from the White House, it is now planned, among other things, that US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will meet his Chinese colleague. There should also be operational discussions between high-ranking military leaders from both countries. The US commander of the Pacific Air Forces will also take part. Shipmasters should also exchange ideas with each other.
The US government has complained several times in recent months that the usual direct military communication with China is not working and that this could lead to dangerous misunderstandings and miscalculations. For example, Beijing had turned down requests for talks at the defense minister level. Washington had repeatedly warned that communication between the militaries of both countries was crucial to the responsible management of relations. The Chinese have essentially cut off these communication links, which poses dangers.
In preparation for the meeting between Biden and Xi, both countries had recently made efforts to achieve rapprochement on various levels, including through various meetings of high-ranking American and Chinese government members. The two sides also came closer again on a military level at the Xiangshan Forum at the end of October. After months of radio silence, a US delegation traveled to Beijing for the security dialogue, which is effectively a Chinese edition of the Munich Security Conference for the Asia-Pacific region. China’s second-highest military commander appeared open to speaking to the US side again.
This is also important given tensions in the Indo-Pacific. The issue of Taiwan, for example, holds great potential for conflict between the USA and China. As the Chinese Foreign Ministry said, at the meeting with Biden, Xi demanded that the US “stop arming Taiwan and support China’s peaceful reunification.” China will implement reunification; it is “unstoppable,” said Xi, referring to the self-governing island. According to the Chinese state news agency Xinhua, Xi also assured Biden that China is not trying to “outdo or displace the United States” and emphasized that the US should not try to suppress China.