China, US appear ready to start talks

Pentagon official to attend conference

BEIJING — China and the United States appear to be restarting dialogue between their militaries, despite continuing disputes over Beijing’s claims to Taiwan and the South China Sea.

The United States confirmed on Thursday that it plans to send Cynthia Carras, principal director for China, Taiwan, and Mongolia, to represent the US Defense Department at the Xiangshan Forum in Beijing this month.

The international gathering hosted by the Chinese Defense Ministry aims to discuss security cooperation and raise China’s status as a global power and rival to the United States and its Asian allies, including Japan and South Korea.

China froze military exchanges after then-speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi last August visited selfgoverning Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory.

In one of the most notable incidents, Chinese defense officials refused to answer a call in February from US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin following the shooting down of a suspected Chinese spy balloon that had flown across North America, sparking a major diplomatic crisis between the sides, who have already seen ties plummet to a historical low.

In a statement, the Pentagon said it “welcomes the opportunity to engage with [People’s Liberation Army] representatives at the Xiangshan Forum on ensuring open and reliable lines of communication, ensuring crisis communications channels, reducing strategic and operational risk, and avoiding misperceptions.”

Earlier on Thursday, China Defense Ministry spokesperson Colonel Wu Qian told reporters that China attached great importance to the development of military-to-military relations between China and the United States.

The Xiangshan Forum is scheduled for Oct. 29-31.

“As we see it, the ranks of the personnel taking part in the exchanges are not the most important,” Wu said. “What is more important are the contents of the exchanges.”

The comments came as China’s top diplomat Wang Yi departed for Washington to meet with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. That follows a series of high-level visits from the United States to China in recent months. In the latest sign of thawing ties, Blinken met Chinese President Xi Jinping, the leader of the ruling Communist Party, in Beijing in June.

China had attributed its refusal to restart military communications to sanctions imposed by Washington, including a refusal to allow former Defense Minister Li Shangfu to visit the United States.

However, on Tuesday China announced the removal of Li as defense minister without giving any explanation or naming a replacement.