Pentagon holds talks with Chinese military
The Pentagon held talks with the Chinese military for the first time since President Joe Biden took office.
That was revealed to Reuters on Friday by a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Relations between China and the United States have grown increasingly tense, over everything from Taiwan, Xinjiang, and Chinese military activity in the South China Sea.
But despite that, the U.S. military has long aimed to have open lines of communication with their Chinese counterparts to dampen potential flare-ups or deal with accidents.
Last week, Michael Chase, deputy assistant secretary of defense for China, spoke with Chinese Major General Huang Xuepingover a secure video link.
Both sides agreed on the importance of maintaining open channels of communication between the armed forces of the world's two largest economies.
Officials said U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has yet to speak with his Chinese counterpart, partly because there's still debate over who exactly that is.
While Vice President Kamala Harris said on Thursday that the United States welcomes competition and does not seek conflict with Beijing, but will speak up on issues such as maritime disputes in the South China Sea.
