By Ankit Panda
Recent reports that U.S.-China military exchanges are paused have been rebuffed by both governments.
On Wednesday, the esteemed Wall Street Journal ran a report titled “Pentagon Pauses New Exchanges With China,” with a subtitle stating that the two countries would not hold a new military exchange “until Washington and Beijing can agree on rules for encounters between warplanes.” The issue of Chinese flybys has been one of major concern for the Pentagon. Late last summer, a Chinese jet flew perilously close to a U.S. P-8 Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft, almost causing a mid-air collision reminiscent of the 2001 Hainan Island incident. Still, the primary contention in the WSJ report, that new military exchanges have been “paused,” appears to be untrue based on reactions from both governments.
The WSJ report clarifies that the delay “doesn’t affect existing military-to-military exchanges.” Instead, the primary issue of contention is a potential U.S. carrier visit to China. Citing “officials,” the WSJ notes that “U.S. and Chinese naval officials had proposed the U.S. send an aircraft carrier on a visit to China, but Pentagon officials have deferred any decision until work on an air-intercepts agreement is complete.” As far as the carrier visit is concerned, neither the Pentagon nor the Chinese defense ministry have made direct comments. However, the report’s implication (particularly by way of the headline) that multiple future exchanges have been stalled drew reactions and repudiations from both U.S. and Chinese defense spokespersons.
Read the full story at The Diplomat