By Shannon Tiezzi
As U.S.-China ties become more strained, a working military relationship is ever more crucial.
Yesterday, I gave a broad overview of the summit between U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping, including worrying signs of a trend toward deep-seated structural and ideological clashes. At the same time, however, both administrations are hedging against the possibility of a drift toward confrontation by trying to deepen ties between their militaries.
During his meeting with Obama, Xi called for a “new type of military relations” between China and the U.S., an offshoot of China’s broader call for a “new type of major power relationship.” In particular, Xi and Obama agreed to expand military exchanges and joint drills and to work on establishing a mutual reporting mechanism for major military operations. The two sides also agreed to continue work on a code of safe conduct for aerial and naval military encounters.
As I’ve noted before, the U.S.-China military relationship is becoming more predictable even as the overall relationship is under stress. In 2010, China called off military talks altogether in response to a U.S. arms sale to Taiwan. Since then, however, high-level talks have become fairly standardized, with the U.S. secretary of defense and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff exchanging annual visits with their Chinese counterparts. At the same time, joint military exercises have become more common. This year, China was invited for the first time to take part in the RIMPAC international maritime exercises held in the waters off of Hawaii. Xi and Obama’s pledge to continue to expand exchanges and joint drills is thus not a surprise.
Read the full story at The Diplomat