BEIJING: Senior military officials from China and the United States held "in-depth" talks on Tuesday, Beijing's defence ministry said. On Tuesday, Beijing's defence ministry said Wu Yanan, head of the Chinese army's Southern Theater Command had held "an in-depth exchange of views" with Samuel Paparo, Commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command. The two officials discussed "issues of common concern", it added, in the first-ever talks of their kind.
The Southern Theater Command is responsible for the Beijing military's activities in the South China Sea, where Chinese vessels have engaged in a series of high-profile confrontations in recent months.
Tuesday's high-level military dialogue between the geopolitical countries comes on the heels of the first visit to China by a US national security advisor since 2016.
Top White House aide Jake Sullivan visited Beijing last month, where he held talks with senior army official Zhang Youxia.
Sullivan's meeting with Zhang saw the officials agree to hold a call between the two sides' theatre commanders in the near future, the White House said.
Meanwhile, Russian and Chinese warships began joint drills in the Sea of Japan on Tuesday, part of a major naval exercise that will see Moscow sail through waters spanning the Northern Hemisphere and Pacific.
Moscow and Beijing have deepened military and economic cooperation in recent years, as both countries seek to counterbalance what they see as a United States-led global order.
President Vladimir Putin will make an address formally opening the Russian-led "Ocean-2024" exercise and will oversee them "from a situation centre in the Kremlin," his spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. The drills will involve more than 400 warships, submarines and support vessels and last until 16 September.
China sent four warships and a supply vessel to the exercise, joining Russia's naval fleet in the Sea of Japan, it said. The wider drills will take place in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans, as well as the Mediterranean, Caspian and Baltic Seas, and are set to become "one of the Russian army's main operational and combat training events of 2024," it added. — AFP
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