US says it wants to get defence talks with China ‘back on track’
- White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan urges renewed military-to-military communication, which Beijing cut off after Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan
- Such talks ‘can help create more stability and reduce the risk of misunderstanding’, he says
Washington’s top national security official urged Beijing on Monday to resume defence talks with the United States, which China cut off after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan over the summer.
“Since the elevated and aggressive actions of the Chinese military around Taiwan started in August, we have not had the military-to-military communication that we believe can help create more stability and reduce the risk of misunderstanding,” National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said.
“We hope to get that back on track.”
Sullivan’s comments were the latest sign of the high tension still present between Washington and Beijing more than two months after Pelosi’s visit to Taipei and the large-scale Chinese military drills around the island that followed.
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US House Speaker Pelosi meets Taiwanese president, officials and activists on controversial visit
After Pelosi became the first US House speaker to fly to Taiwan in 25 years, Beijing conducted several days of large-scale, live-fire military drills, in what observers said was effectively a blockade of the island.
