Opinion | US-China diplomatic and security talks fail to produce a way out of the morass, but did anyone think it would?
- Despite tensions both sides recognise that a continuation of military-to-military exchanges could provide stability and prevent a conflict breaking out, Ankit Panda says
The United States and China, after a delay, have concluded their second annual diplomatic and security dialogue at a time of unusually high bilateral tensions along all fronts.
Even beyond the ongoing trade war, the recent meeting between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of Defence James Mattis, Chinese Politburo member Yang Jiechi, and State Councillor and Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe follows several notable events.
In August, the US moved to impose sanctions on the People’s Liberation Army’s Equipment Development Department in connection with China’s receipt of Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile systems and Su-35 fighter jets. In September, at the United Nations, US President Donald Trump accused China of interfering in the US midterm elections.
It didn’t stop there. In late September, a Chinese Type 052C destroyer almost caused a collision with a US navy destroyer lawfully conducting a freedom of navigation operation near Gaven Reef in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.
That incident came a day after the US approved a probable sale of military aviation components to Taiwan and the same week US Vice-President Mike Pence would deliver a speech highlighting a long list of US grievances with China’s domestic and international conduct.