US, CHINESE GENERALS SIT DOWN TO AVOID CONFRONTATION

WASHINGTON— US and Chinese generals engaged in an unusual set of security talks on Wednesday focused on how the mighty American and Chinese militaries might communicate in a crisis.

As US President Donald Trump greeted North Korea’s launching of its most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile yet with familiar demands for China to get tougher with its ally, the low-profile meeting was taking place amid signs China was more willing to discuss how the two world powers would manage an even worse emergency on the divided Korean Peninsula.

The Pentagon said the talks, being held at the National Defense University in Washington, were scheduled long before North Korea’s surprise missile launch in the early hours of Wednesday in Asia. Officials insisted the dialogue wasn’t centered on North Korea.

Military confrontation

The threat of a military confrontation is making China rethink its resistance to discussing contingencies involving North Korea, according to experts.

Such discussions have long been off-limits for China, which fought onNorth Korea’s side against the United States in the 1950-53 Korean War and remains its treaty ally.

“The engagement will serve as an opportunity to discuss how to manage crises, prevent miscalculations, and reduce the risk of misunderstanding,” the office of Gen. Joseph Dunford, chair of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a statement.

The United States and China agreed on the talks when Dunford visited Beijing in August.

While in China, Dunford observed a military drill at Shenyang, about 192 kilometers from the North Korean border—an unusual stop for an official visit.

Wednesday’s talks were being led by Lt. Gen. Richard Clarke, the Joint Chiefs’ planning director, and Maj. Gen. Shao Yuanming, a senior Chinese military official.

Deep strategic mistrust

They’re especially noteworthy given the deep strategic mistrust between the United States and China, and Beijing’s increasing challenge to America’s post-World War II dominance in the Asia-Pacific.

Yun Sun, an expert on Chinese foreign policy at the Stimson Center think tank, said Dunford raised North Korean contingencies at the August meeting and the two sides discussed the potential danger of a nuclear disaster.

Acollapse of North Korea’s state, or another crisis, could push China into conflict with the United States and South Korea, experts say.—