US needs to ‘act with sincerity’ on Taiwan to restart China defence talks, analysts say

National security adviser Jake Sullivan has called for dialogue to resume after it was cut off by Beijing following US House speaker’s trip to Taiwan

Communication channels could be reopened, but it will depend on interaction and political atmosphere between nations, according to observer

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US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi meets Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei on August 3. The visit angered Beijing and it cut off military talks with the US in response. Photo: AP

Published: 6:31pm, 8 Nov 2022

Washington will need to “act with sincerity” on Taiwan if it wants to resume defence talks with Beijing, according to Chinese military analysts.

The assessment came after US national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Monday said he hoped military-to-military dialogue could get “back on track” after it was cut off by Beijing in retaliation for US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August.

Zhou Bo, a senior fellow at Tsinghua University’s Centre for International Security and Strategy, said it was possible the communication channels could be reopened, but it would depend on the interaction and political atmosphere between the two countries.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan has urged Beijing to resume defence talks. Photo: TNS

Pelosi’s Taiwan trip was the biggest cause of tension between the two militaries, according to Zhou, a retired senior colonel and former director of the Chinese defence ministry’s office for international cooperation.

“They fully understood the sensitivity of this matter, yet the US government and the military did not put enough pressure on Pelosi over her provocative behaviour … which caused a very serious situation,” Zhou said. “They need to reflect on this matter.”

Beijing was infuriated when Pelosi travelled to Taiwan – becoming the first US House speaker to do so for 25 years – and the People’s Liberation Army responded with days of large-scale, live-fire military drills around the self-ruled island.

In addition, Beijing cancelled three dialogues with the US military in retaliation for the visit: the China-US Theatre Commanders’ Talk, the Defence Policy Coordination Talks, and the Military Maritime Consultative Agreement meetings.