US and China agree to develop crisis communication — South China Morning Post
Representatives of the US and Chinese defense departments held the first meeting of the Crisis Communication and Crisis Prevention Working Group in Washington on November 2–3. The sides recognized the importance of developing practical communication mechanisms to reduce risks in relations between the two countries, the South China Morning Post reports.
First meeting of the group
According to a Pentagon statement, the participants also discussed additional channels for effective crisis management and ways to exchange information promptly and efficiently.
The US side was represented by Cynthia “Xanthe” Karras, principal director for China, Taiwan and Mongolia in the Office of the US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. China was represented at the meeting by Senior Colonel Wang Wei, deputy director of the Americas and Oceania Bureau of the International Military Cooperation Office of the People’s Liberation Army of China.
The Pentagon said it would continue discussions with the People’s Liberation Army of China on key defense issues in the coming months. The US side did not provide details of specific agreements.
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Contacts after the summit
This was the first such meeting of military officials from the two countries since China’s Foreign Ministry announced on September 26 that Beijing and Washington had agreed to accelerate and complete preparations for a memorandum on crisis communication and crisis prevention. The statement was made several days after talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump in Washington.
The United States and China already have consultation mechanisms and high-level communication channels. In August 2022, Beijing suspended the hotline with the United States after then Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan. In November 2023, the countries agreed to unfreeze the channel, but actual contacts through it were limited.
In October last year, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun agreed to establish military communication channels during a meeting in Malaysia. In August, General Yang Zhibin, commander of China’s Eastern Theater Command, and Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Pacific Command, held in-person talks in Canada for the first time in two years.
