Top US, Chinese Generals speak for first time in over a year

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Charles Brown attends a ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, in Arlington, Virginia, Sept 29, 2023. Brown had his first videoconference with his Chinese counterpart, General Liu Zhenli, on Dec 21, 2023. [Reuters]

The United States and China's top military leaders met for the first time in over a year Thursday and discussed a "number of global and regional security issues," including maintaining direct lines of communication, U.S. military officials said.

This was the first meeting between U.S. Joint Chiefs Chairman Charles Q. Brown and General Liu Zhenli, chief of the Joint Staff Department of the People's Liberation Army, since Brown assumed his position in October, the statement said.

In their videoconference on Thursday, Brown and Liu "discussed the importance of working together to responsibly manage competition, avoid miscalculations, and maintain open and direct lines of communication," Navy Captain Jereal Dorsey, Joint Staff spokesman, said in the statement.

Brown also "reiterated the importance of [China's] military engaging in substantive dialogue to reduce the likelihood of misunderstandings" and "reaffirmed the importance of holding the bilateral Defense Policy Coordination Talks, holding Military Maritime Consultative Agreement talks, and opening lines of communication between the Commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and the commanders of the PLA Eastern and Southern Theater Commands," Dorsey said.

Normal communication channels between the militaries of the world's two largest economies were severed by China in August 2022, when then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, the self-ruled island Beijing considers part of the mainland.

The two sides agreed to resume the contacts following President Joe Biden's summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping outside San Francisco last month.

Earlier this week NBC News, citing U.S. officials, said Xi bluntly told Biden during their summit that Beijing will reunify Taiwan with mainland China but that the timing has not yet been decided.

The sources told NBC that Xi told Biden in a group meeting attended by a dozen American and Chinese officials that China's preference is to take Taiwan peacefully, not by force.

The sources also told NBC that China had asked Biden to make a public statement after their meeting saying the U.S. supports China's goal of a peaceful reunification with Taiwan, but the White House rejected the request.

Biden had said he made "positive steps" in his talks with Xi.