China‘s prime diplomat within the U.S. visited the Pentagon this week for a uncommon assembly with the highest U.S. protection official for Asia, signaling a attainable opening of navy communications between Washington and Beijing for the reason that Chinese facet shut them down practically a 12 months in the past.

Pentagon officers say Chinese Ambassador Xie Feng held talks Wednesday with Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner. The assembly got here after months of Chinese refusals to revive military-to-military contacts with Washington, regardless of repeated requests by the Biden administration.

Concern across the lack of such communications has spiked for the reason that U.S. Air Force shot down a Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of South Carolina after the spycraft traversed the continental United States, probably absorbing intelligence on delicate nuclear websites.

China most lately rejected a request by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, throughout a go to to Beijing, for military-to-military contacts to be restored to keep away from a conflict over Chinese threats to the U.S.-backed island democracy of Taiwan.

Mr. Blinken mentioned he raised the difficulty of navy communications “repeatedly” throughout the late June go to, however was rebuffed by Chinese officers.

“It is absolutely vital that we have these kinds of communications,” he mentioned, including that it was one thing the U.S. will “keep working on.”

The secretary mentioned he emphasised throughout conferences, together with a 35-minute session with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the significance the Biden administration attaches to navy communications in stopping a battle.

The Blinken growth got here weeks after Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin gave competing speeches on the Taiwan difficulty on the Shangri-La Dialogue — a global protection discussion board — in Singapore, the place Mr. Li snubbed Mr. Austin’s request to carry an in-depth assembly.

More latest weeks, nevertheless, have seen a variety of nonmilitary diplomatic conferences between U.S. and Chinese officers as a part of the Biden administration’s outreach to Beijing in hopes of easing traditionally excessive U.S.-China friction, plus China‘s rising curiosity in easing for financial causes.

China stays the No. 2 U.S. commerce companion globally, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visited Beijing final week. John Kerry, the Biden administration’s local weather envoy and a former secretary of state with long-time expertise visiting with Chinese officers, is reported to be heading to China subsequent week.

Wednesday’s uncommon go to to the Pentagon by Mr. Xie got here after a latest invitation to the ambassador from the Defense Department, in keeping with Army Lt. Col. Martin Meiners, a Pentagon spokesman.

“Assistant Secretary Ratner and Ambassador Xie discussed U.S.-[People’s Republic of China] defense relations, as well as a range of international and regional security issues,” Lt. Col. Meiners mentioned in an announcement, including that Mr. Ratner “underscored the department’s commitment to maintaining open lines of military-to-military communication between the United States and the PRC.”

In an announcement early Thursday, the Chinese Embassy in Washington mentioned Mr. Xie urged the U.S. to satisfy China midway to get relations between the 2 nations and their militaries heading in the right direction, in keeping with Reuters.

The information company reported that Mr. Xie requested throughout his assembly with Mr. Ratner that “the U.S. side take action to remove obstacles, manage differences, handle Taiwan and other important and sensitive issues cautiously in accordance with the principles of the three Sino-U.S. joint communiques.”

China suspended common contact with the U.S. navy final August after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, difficult Beijing‘s precept that different nations ought to chorus from official exchanges with self-governing Taiwan, which China claims as its territory.

The downside existed even earlier than Mrs. Pelosi’s go to. U.S. officers say China has declined or failed to reply to over a dozen requests since 2021 from the Defense Department for top-level talks.

China has attributed its refusal to restart navy communications to sanctions imposed by Washington, a attainable reference to sanctions on Chinese Defense Minister Li.

The sanctions have been a part of a package deal of measures towards Russia, predating its invasion of Ukraine, imposed in 2018 over Mr. Li’s involvement in China‘s buy of fight plane and anti-aircraft missiles from Moscow.

“The U.S. side is surely aware of why there is difficulty in military-to-military exchanges,” Yang Tao, a Chinese Foreign Ministry official overseeing North American affairs, mentioned at a press briefing following Mr. Blinken’s go to to Beijing final month.

“One of the reasons is unilateral sanctions against the Chinese side,” mentioned Mr. Yang. “They first need to remove impediments and create conditions for military-to-military cooperation.”

• This story relies partly on wire service stories.

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