Foreign Affairs

Why haven’t China and the US agreed to restore military contacts?

China and the US have not been able to restore military contacts despite the push given by the US. 

All is not good between China and the US: Why don’t they have military contacts?


China and the US have not had military contact since August 2022 after the visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan. This had angered China which has repeatedly maintained that no country should engage officially with Taiwan as they follow the principle of ‘One China’. 

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In a recent visit of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Beijing, attempts were made to stabilize the US-China ties. He had raised the issue of military communications, but China refused to adhere to this request. 

Blinken said that the US will continue working on it as “It is absolutely vital that we have these kinds of communications.”

 Why does the US want to restore military contact with China?

All has not been smooth between the US and China, there is rising tension between Beijing and Washington on multiple issues. Most recently, the suspected Chinese balloon over U.S territory and several near-collisions between the vessels and aircraft of both countries have further soured the relationship. 

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The United States of America wants to avoid a situation where the US and Chinese military have a full-fledged clash that could spiral out of control. 

Why is China not restoring military connections?

China has refused to restart military connections because of the sanctions that Washington has imposed on the country. The sanction was a result of China purchasing combat aircraft and anti-aircraft missiles from Moscow and the US overall had imposed a bunch of sanctions against Russia. 

“The US side is surely aware of why there is difficulty in military-to-military exchanges. One of the reasons is unilateral sanctions against the Chinese side. They first need to remove impediments and create conditions for military-to-military cooperation,” said Yang Tao, a Chinese Foreign Ministry. 

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However, the US and China have indicated that they are open to further talks and also to work on stabilizing the relationship. China’s President Xi Jinping and Blinken have both been a part of these communications and the results of these talks remain to be seen. 

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Harshita Bajaj

Harshita has a background in Psychology and Criminology and is currently pursuing her PhD in Criminology. She can be found reading crime thrillers (or any other book for that matter) or binge-watching shows on Netflix when she is not in hibernation.
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