Austin speaks to his Chinese counterpart for the first time in almost 2 years

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke Tuesday morning with his Chinese counterpart, reestablishing high-level military communications between the two countries for the first time in nearly two years.

Austin and Chinese Defense Minister Admiral Dong Jun, who spoke via video conference, discussed US-China defense relations, the South China Sea operation and US policy toward Taiwan, as well as the war in Ukraine and North Korea’s recent provocations, according to a readout of the Pentagon call.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the call, a senior defense official said the dialogue aims to ensure that competition with China “does not escalate into conflict.”

“We believe that having these lines of communication open is important to avoid any type of misperception, misunderstanding, miscalculation, anything that could cause competition to escalate into conflict,” they said.

This is the first time Austin has spoken to Dong, who took over as China’s top military official in December after his predecessor was ousted without explanation, and the first time the Pentagon chief has had a substantive exchange with a Chinese counterpart. since November 2022.

Austin interacted with then-Defense Minister Li Shangfu in June at a dinner in Singapore while they were both attending a defense forum, but the two only shook hands after China rejected a US invitation for a formal meeting.

The call marks another step in the softening of diplomatic relations between Washington and Beijing, coming about five months after a meeting between President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in San Francisco. The two also spoke on the phone earlier this month.

China ended most military communication with the United States after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) visited Taiwan in August 2022. The trip drew condemnation from China, which views the independent island as its own territory and threatened to bring it under his control by force.

But after Biden and Xi’s meeting, where the two agreed to open more lines of dialogue, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General CQ Brown held a video call with his Chinese counterpart in December, the first time the two had met. they said.

US and Chinese military officials also met in Waikiki, Hawaii, earlier this month to discuss the Military Maritime Consultative Agreement (MMCA) – a typically annual meeting aimed at reducing any air and sea clashes between the two.

An additional set of MMCA meetings are expected later this year, the official said. They added that the two sides “continue to discuss future engagements between our senior military and defense leaders.”