SENIOR U.S. ADMIRAL AT NAVAL SECURITY TALKS

Head of American Pacific Fleet meets PLA political commissar during forum in Qingdao, which Philippines skipped amid maritime tensions

Senior United States and PLA navy officers have met for discussions during a forum in northeastern China amid tensions in the South China Sea.

Admiral Stephen Koehler, commander of the US Pacific Fleet, met Admiral Yuan Huazhi, political commissar of the People’s Liberation Army Navy, at the 19th Western Pacific Naval Symposium in Qingdao on Tuesday.

Koehler met Yuan to discuss “increasing security challenges in the Indo-Pacific”, according to a statement from the US Pacific Fleet, which provides naval forces for the Indo-Pacific Command.

Two days earlier, Koehler had met the commander of China’s navy, Admiral Hu Zhongming, according to the statement.

In meetings with PLA officials, Koehler discussed the importance of maintaining open lines of communication, operational safety and regional security, it said.

The bilateral talks – which the Chinese side has yet to confirm or offer details about – came after a series of senior-level talks between the two militaries, including most recently between US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defence Minister Admiral Dong Jun this month.

The meetings took place on the sidelines of a symposium hosted by China and attended by 29 countries, notably including representatives from Russia and the US, which did not have any bilateral interactions, according to publicly available information.

While the Philippines was absent, the member countries passed the updated 3.0 version of the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea – a non-binding multilateral agreement adopted in 2014 – standardising safety protocols, basic communications and basic manoeuvring at sea for ships and aircraft.

The full text of the document has not been made public.

Alexander Moiseyev – commander-in-chief of the Russian navy, who led his country’s delegation to the event – also held talks with navy commander Hu, Tass reported on Sunday.

The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation in maritime search and rescue operations and both stressed the importance of developing cooperation between their navies “in the interests of security and stability”, Tass said citing Russia’s defence ministry.

The forum started on Sunday and took place against a backdrop of intensified clashes between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea, where they have overlapping territorial claims. Tensions are also running high in the Taiwan Strait and the East China Sea.

The forum coincided with the largest-ever annual Balikatan “shoulder-to-shoulder” drills between the US and the Philippines in the South China Sea, which started on Monday.

The forum established a “research working group on unmanned systems” with China as the coordinating country, a statement from defence ministry in Beijing said on Tuesday, although it offered no further details.

During the forum on Tuesday, Hu called for “close communication” and “strengthened coordination” between the naval forces of countries taking part, according to the defence ministry.

He called on the navies of all countries to “engage in dialogue rather than confrontation, to engage in exchanges rather than becoming hostile … and to add bricks rather than chaos”.