International
US and China commanders to discuss conflict prevention 'in next few weeks'
WASHINGTON — The commander of the US forces in the Indo-Pacific will speak to a southern theatre commander of China's armed forces in the next few weeks, with the aim of preventing any military misunderstandings between the superpowers, the US ambass
The remark from Nicholas Burns came after a visit to Beijing last month by US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who met Chinese leader Xi Jinping's leading military adviser and agreed that US Indo-Pacific command leaders would soon speak by phone to their counterparts in China's southern theatre command, which covers its southern seas.
"I think that Admiral Sam Paparo... is going to have a conversation with a southern theatre commander of the People's Liberation Army in the next few weeks," Burns said in an online interview with Foreign Policy magazine.
Burns said Washington had been pursuing closer military-to-military communication channels with Beijing since ties sank to a historic low point after the US downed a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon last year.
