On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the press that during his time in Beijing, he emphasised the requirement for direct communication between American and Chinese armed forces. In spite of this, the Chinese have not consented to doing so, Blinken said, adding that the U.S. will continue attempting to reconstruct the communication paths. An issue concerning China is the U.S. sanctioning of Li Shangfu, China's Minister of National Defense.
During his two-day trip to Beijing, which represented the first high-level U.S.-China government meeting since the start of the Biden administration, Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed that military-to-military talks could not be revived. The breakdown in communication began after a Chinese spy balloon was discovered over U.S. airspace in early February, which resulted in a delay of Blinken's visit to Beijing by more than four months. Although both countries' defense heads attended an annual event in Singapore recently, they did not have a formal meeting. Blinken commented that the balloon incident "chapter should be closed."
At the meeting, Blinken stated his opinion that it is essential to have direct military-to-military communication between the two nations. He made this point due to the recent Chinese spy balloon shot down by the U.S. as well as the Chinese warship getting close to a U.S. destroyer in the Taiwan Strait. However, China does not concur, and the U.S. will continue attempting to restore these communication channels. Currently, the U.S. recognizes the Chinese government, while still maintaining unofficial ties with Taiwan - a democratic and self-ruling island.
In 2018, Li Shangfu, China's minister of national defense, was sanctioned by the U.S. while he was head of China's Equipment Development Department for overseeing Chinese purchases of Russian combat aircraft and equipment. When asked in May whether those sanctions would be lifted, even for negotiation purposes, the U.S. State Department spokesperson said no. According to a CNBC translated Mandarin-language remarks by Shen Yamei, director and associate research fellow at state-backed think tank China Institute of International Studies' department for American studies, "You can't have sanctions on one side" and discussion on the other. Despite China refusing to pick up a military hotline phone call due to their belief that it would prompt more extreme U.S. action, Blinken's trip to Beijing was seen as a "very good turning point". Following the meeting, Blinken said that other senior U.S. officials would soon likely visit China, and vice versa, and declared it a positive step towards responsibly managing the U.S.-China relationship.
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