Chinese envoy to US visits Pentagon for rare security talks

According to a brief statement from the Pentagon, Chinese Ambassador Xie Feng discussed defense relations and “a range of international and regional security issues” in conversations with Ely Ratner, a US undersecretary of defense.

“Ratner also underscored the Department’s commitment to maintaining open lines of military communication between the United States and the People’s Republic of China,” Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Martin Meiners said, using the abbreviation of the official name of China.

The talks lasted about 90 minutes, Meiners said.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

With U.S.-China relations at a low ebb over national security issues, including Taiwan, the U.S. ban on high-tech exports, and China’s state-led industrial policy, Washington has sought to bolster ties between the world’s two largest economies to recover.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visited China earlier this month and climate envoy John Kerry is due to visit next week. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Beijing last month, the first trip by a US secretary of state to China since 2018.

But Beijing has rejected attempts by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to have an in-depth meeting with his Chinese counterpart at a defense forum in Singapore last month, and military communications have stalled.

“We have regularly reached out to strengthen our communication and crisis management channels with Beijing, but they have consistently rejected us,” Colin Kahl, the Pentagon’s top policy adviser, told a forum in London on May 10. July.

China has publicly cited US sanctions as an obstacle to military dialogue. Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu has been sanctioned since 2018 for purchasing fighter jets and equipment from Russia’s top arms exporter, Rosoboronexport.

But Kahl said in London that China seemed concerned that Washington would use crisis management channels “so we can have more crises”.

“When we have these conversations with them, they’re like, ‘If you don’t want tantrums, there’s a simple answer… Get out. You’re not a powerhouse in the Pacific,'” Kahl said, adding that it’s strange to hear from someone from the coastal state of California.