US and Chinese commanders hold rare talks to dial down risk of ‘miscalculation’
American and Chinese military commanders spoke in a long-anticipated call Tuesday as the two powers seek to manage their intensifying rivalry in a contentious Asia-Pacific region – and repair lines of military communication severed more than two years ago.
US Indo-Pacific Command Adm. Samuel Paparo and Gen. Wu Yanan, commander of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Southern Theater Command spoke via video conference, according to statements from both sides.
The call marks a step forward in what has been a gradual restoration of high-level US-China military communications in recent months as the two sides navigate a host of regional tensions, including over Beijing’s aggressions in the South China Sea and toward Taiwan.
Beijing severed high-level military-to-military communication with the US in August 2022 following visit by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, the self-ruling democratic island that China’s ruling Communist Party claims as its own.
China and the US agreed to hold the commander-level call “in the near future” during a visit from White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan to Beijing late last month.
In Tuesday’s call, Paparo underscored that having sustained lines of communication between senior military leaders serves “to clarify intent and reduce the risk of misperception or miscalculation,” according to a White House readout.
He also cited “several recent PLA unsafe interactions with US allies,” and called on the PLA to “comply with international laws and norms to ensure operational safety.”
“Paparo also urged the PLA to reconsider its use of dangerous, coercive, and potentially escalatory tactics in the South China Sea and beyond,” said the readout, which characterized the talks as a “constructive and respectful exchange of views.”
A readout published by Chinese state media Tuesday morning confirmed the talks and simply said the “two sides exchanged in-depth views on issues of common concern.”
The resumption of the commander-level talks comes amid especially heightened tensions in the South China Sea, where Chinese and Philippine ships have been engaged in a series of increasingly violent, but so-far non-lethal confrontations in recent months.
Beijing claims the sea almost in its entirety despite a major international ruling to the contrary, and the US has in recent months reiterated Washington’s “ironclad commitment” to defend its treaty ally, the Philippines.
Analysts have long warned that a miscalculation in the South China Sea could quickly spiral into a damaging regional conflict between the world’s two largest economies and that a lack of communication could compound those risks.
The talks also play out amid a range of frictions between Washington and Beijing, including over China’s close ties to Russia and what the US says is its support for Moscow’s defense industrial base, as well as Beijing’s concerns that the US is tightening ties with its regional allies to contain China.
Tuesday’s call marks a rare point of contact between top military officials leading American troops in the Indo-Pacific and Chinese strategy in the Southern and Eastern theater respectively.
It comes within a broader, gradual resumption of high-level military communication following a meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in November.
Top US and Chinese generals spoke in December after more than a year of silence, and US and Chinese defense chiefs held rare talks on the sidelines of a defense gathering in Singapore in May.
But the Biden administration had for months pushed to move direct discussions between the two global powers beyond the government brass to uniformed officers making decisions in the region.