Hong Kong CNN —American and Chinese military commanders spoke in a long-anticipated call Tuesday as the two powers seek to manage their intensifying rivalry in a contentious Asia-Pacific region – and repair lines of military communication severed more than two years ago.
Analysts have long warned that a miscalculation in the South China Sea could quickly spiral into a damaging regional conflict between the world’s two largest economies and that a lack of communication could compound those risks.
Tuesday’s call marks a rare point of contact between top military officials leading American troops in the Indo-Pacific and Chinese strategy in the Southern and Eastern theater respectively.
It comes within a broader, gradual resumption of high-level military communication following a meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in November.
Top US and Chinese generals spoke in December after more than a year of silence, and US and Chinese defense chiefs held rare talks on the sidelines of a defense gathering in Singapore in May.
Persons:
Pacific Command Adm, Samuel Paparo, Wu Yanan, Army’s, Nancy Pelosi, Jake Sullivan, “ Paparo, ”, Washington’s, Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, Biden
Organizations:
Hong Kong CNN —, Pacific Command, PLA, Southern Theater Command, Communist Party, White House, Analysts
Locations:
Hong Kong, Asia, China, South, Taiwan, Beijing, South China, Philippine, Philippines, Washington, Russia, Southern, Eastern, Singapore