On Thursday, General Liu Zhenli, a member of the China’s Central Military Commission (CMC) and chief of staff of the CMC Joint Staff Department, met with General Charles Q. Brown, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The high-level defence meeting comes as US defence officials have often raised concerns over China’s lack of communication with US military leaders at multiple levels.
Comments from China
General Liu said that as Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden reached an “important consensus on the resumption” of military exchanges and communication during their meeting in San Francisco, both sides should “carry out communication and cooperation on the basis of equality and mutual respect, so as to jointly stabilise and improve the bilateral ties.”
Further, he asserted that “the key to develop healthy, stable, and sustainable military relations” is that the US “should have a right perception toward China, with the premise that the US should genuinely respect China’s core interests and major concerns and make it a top priority to promote pragmatic cooperation and enhance mutual understanding.”
General Liu Zhenli, chief of staff of the Central Military Commission's Joint Staff Department, spoke with his United States counterpart, General Charles Brown, Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, via a video link on Thursday, according to a news release from China's… pic.twitter.com/gNSTb2U7iX
— China News 中国新闻网 (@Echinanews) December 22, 2023
On the issue of Taiwan, Liu reiterated that “the Taiwan question is purely China’s internal affair, which brooks no foreign interference.” He also stressed that the Chinese military “will resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
He urged the US to “earnestly respect China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea, be prudent in its words and deeds, and take concrete actions to safeguard regional peace and stability as well as the overall interests of the China-US relations.”
Comments from the US
According to a press release by the Department of Defence, General Brown discussed “the importance of working together to responsibly manage competition, avoid miscalculations, and maintain open and direct lines of communication.”
He also emphasised the importance of engaging in “substantive dialogue” with the People’s Liberation Army “to reduce the likeliahood of misunderstandings.”
Commenting on Thursday’s meeting, senior US defence officials said the initial talks between the two military leaders are an “important step” but added that there still remains more work to ensure open and reliable lines of communications between US and Chinese military leaders.
“These are the kinds of discussions that we need to have to try to avoid misunderstanding and miscalculation. Having those open channels of communication, obviously, is a key part of that,” an official said.