In a significant breakthrough, the top military officials from the United States and China held a long-awaited call on Thursday, marking an end to a 16-month standoff between the two countries. Chief of the Joint Staff Air Force Gen. CQ Brown and China's Joint Staff Gen. Liu Zhenli engaged in a videoconference to discuss crucial global and regional security issues, according to the Pentagon. The call came after Beijing had cut off all armed forces contacts with Washington in response to a controversial trip made by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan in August 2022.

During the call, General Brown emphasized the importance of responsible management of competition and the need to avoid miscalculations. He stressed the significance of maintaining open and direct lines of communication to reduce the likelihood of misunderstandings. Brown also urged the People's Liberation Army of China to engage in substantive dialogue. This call marked the first time that any Pentagon official had spoken with a Chinese military leader since Pelosi's visit to Taiwan.

The resumption of military-to-military communication was one of the major agreements that emerged from the hours-long meeting between President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco a month ago. The lack of contact between the two countries' defense officials had been a cause of concern, as it posed risks of close calls, troubling interactions, and potential misunderstandings. Defense officials repeatedly expressed their worries about the dangerous consequences of closing lines of communication.

The strained relationship between the US and China was further amplified by China's increasingly provocative and risky behavior. Earlier this year, the US military detected a Chinese spy balloon entering its airspace, prompting the Pentagon to seek an explanation from Beijing. However, China ignored the calls and instead denied intentionally sending the balloon into US airspace, claiming it was a civilian airship that had veered off course. Eventually, the Air Force had to shoot down the surveillance craft after its weeklong journey over the country. This incident, among others, raised concerns about the potential for unintentional conflicts.

Although the call between Brown and Liu is a positive step towards rebuilding communication, Pentagon spokesman Air Force Brig. Pat Ryder did not confirm whether Liu had agreed to continue regular communication or reactivate the military-to-military emergency hotline. Ryder emphasized the US's commitment to keeping the lines of communication open and advocated for regular conversations on defense policy coordination and opening communications between the commanders of the US Indo-Pacific Command and China's eastern and southern theater commands.

One of the critical aspects discussed during the call was the resumption of the Military Maritime Consultative Agreement, which was signed in 1998 and established regular talks between the US and China on maritime safety. These talks are crucial for maintaining peace in the western Pacific, where the US Navy frequently challenges China's illegal claims to islands and reefs in the South China Sea. The report by the Pentagon's China Military Power stated that between 2021 and 2023, China conducted more than 180 "coercive and risky air intercepts" with American military aircraft in the region, leading to increased concerns over the aggressive behavior of China's military.

The re-establishment of high-level communications between the US and China is seen as a priority by the White House. President Biden has been actively engaged in diplomatic efforts to improve relations with China, including meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Indonesia and California. The recent call between Brown and Liu is a significant step towards fostering dialogue and avoiding misunderstandings or miscalculations that could potentially spark conflict or war. However, both countries acknowledge that there is still more work to be done to strengthen the communication channels between them.