BEIJING - A U.S. lawmaker expressed concern Tuesday that the United States and china are “talking past each other” on critical issues, despite recent resumed military dialog and high-level meetings in Beijing. The assessment comes amid ongoing tensions in the South China Sea and over Taiwan, and as both nations seek to stabilize a complex relationship.
Representative Mike Smith (R-MN), speaking to reporters in Beijing, highlighted the increasing frequency of close encounters between U.S. and Chinese military aircraft as evidence of the communication gap. “We’ve seen this with our ships and our planes, their ships, their planes, coming entirely too close to one another,” Smith said. “At the height of the Cold War, we had regular conversations, regular treaties with the Soviet Union.” In October 2023, the U.S. military reported a Chinese fighter jet came within 10 feet of an American bomber over the South China Sea.
The concerns voiced by smith follow meetings with Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun and Vice Premier He Lifeng,after talks with Premier Li Qiang on Sunday. The visit by Smith and a bipartisan delegation – including Michael Baumgartner (R), Ro Khanna (D), and chrissy Houlahan (D) - aims to re-establish lines of communication that were largely severed following then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August 2022, a move that angered Beijing, which views Taiwan as a breakaway province.
Military-to-military communications between the U.S.and China were restored in November 2023 following a meeting between Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden. However, Smith indicated the extent of ongoing dialogue remains unclear. He emphasized the potential for progress through direct engagement, stating, “Many things that seemed intractable and impossible - once you actually start talking from the standpoint of ‘Let’s try and resolve this’ – it is unbelievable what you can accomplish.”
The delegation is scheduled to remain in China until Thursday.Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump announced plans to meet with xi Jinping at a regional summit in South Korea in late October and to visit China in the “early part of next year,” following a phone call between the two leaders on Friday. The renewed diplomatic efforts signal a mutual desire to manage the relationship, but the challenge of bridging essential disagreements remains notable.