US-China agree to resume military communications
Woodside: US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping have agreed to resume high-level military communication, counter-narcotics cooperation and discussion on artificial intelligence as they met for four hours in a bid to establish a working relationship following a period of strained ties.
The two leaders met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco. The in-person meeting, the first time in more than a year, was held at the picturesque Filoli Estate, about 40 km south of San Francisco. “We’re back to direct, open, clear communications,” Biden said following the meeting.
The United States and China have made important progress in their bilateral ties, he said. “These are tangible steps in the right direction to determine what’s useful and what’s not useful, what’s dangerous and what’s acceptable. Moreover, there is evidence of cases that I’ve made all along. The United States will continue to compete vigorously with the People’s Republic of China, but we’ll manage that competition responsibly, so it doesn’t veer into conflict or accidental conflict,” Biden told reporters here at a news conference.
Biden said a lack of communication was “how accidents happen” and added that both presidents could now “pick up the phone and be directly heard immediately”. China severed military-to-military communications last year after then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan.
Beijing views self-ruled Taiwan as its territory and has threatened to annex it by force if necessary. Biden said that, while many disagreements remained between them, Xi had “just been straight”. He said the talks were “some of the most constructive and productive discussions we’ve had”.
The two sides also announced several other agreements in areas that have become sources of tension in recent times. These included taking steps to tackle the flow of fentanyl into the US, which has contributed to a rise in overdose deaths
in the country.
