Explainer | What defence dialogues did Beijing cancel after Pelosi’s Taiwan trip and how does this affect ties with US?
- Three important meetings between the People’s Liberation Army and the US military were cancelled as part of Beijing’s retaliation measures
- Direct lines between defence ministers and chiefs of staff still exist, even though the Chinese side did not answer them last week
The next day, it was reported that several calls from the Pentagon to Chinese counterparts were ignored, a development criticised by US officials as “shortsighted and reckless” and leading to concerns it may cause dangerous misjudgment or conflict between the two superpowers.
What are these dialogues? Why are they important?
The three dialogues Beijing called off are China-US theatre commanders’ talks, defence policy coordination talks (DPCT) and military maritime consultative agreement (MMCA) meetings. They represent different levels of contact between the PLA and the US military and serve as stabilisers for not just the inter-military relationship but, sometimes, also in the overall bilateral ties between the countries.
The MMCA meeting is the result of an agreement signed in January 1998 following the de-escalation of the 1996 Taiwan Strait crisis, in which the US Navy sent its aircraft carrier strike groups to confront the PLA over missile test firings at the peak of tension.
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In this first ever China-US agreement for military consultation, the two sides agreed to hold a meeting every year to discuss maritime security measures, inter-navy communication and protocols for search and rescue and encounters on the sea, among others.
