U.S. and Chinese military commanders set to speak by phone for the first time in years

WASHINGTON — The commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command is expected to speak with his Chinese counterpart as early as Monday, according to three U.S. officials familiar with the planning, as the two superpowers try to rebuild military ties in an effort to avoid conflict.

Adm. Samuel Paparo is expected to speak with Gen. Wu Yanan, the commander of China’s Southern Theater, which is responsible for Beijing’s vast claims over the South China Sea. The call will mark the first time in years that the two regional military commanders have engaged in a formal conversation.

Paparo’s predecessor, Adm. John Aquilino, had a standing request to meet with the commanders of China’s Southern Theater as well as its Eastern Theater, whose jurisdiction includes the Taiwan Strait, but China never agreed.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping had cut off military communications in 2022 after Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the House speaker at the time, visited Taiwan, a self-governing island democracy that Beijing claims as its territory.

The United States and China have been at odds over a number of issues including the status of Taiwan, China’s stance on wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and its growing aggression in the South China Sea, a strategically important waterway that Beijing claims virtually in its entirety.

Relations reached their lowest point in decades in early 2023 when an alleged Chinese spy balloon appeared over the continental U.S. and was shot down by the U.S. military.

President Joe Biden and Xi agreed to resume military communications at a summit in California in November. Both countries announced plans for a call between their military theater commanders after a visit to Beijing late last month by Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser.

A senior administration official said re-establishing this specific communication channel between the U.S. and China was a priority on Sullivan’s trip. 

The two countries also said Biden and Xi would speak by phone in the coming weeks, which would be their first interaction since April.

NBC News reported last week that the White House is aiming for a meeting between the two leaders in November.

Courtney Kube and Carol E. Lee reported from Washington, and Jennifer Jett reported from Hong Kong.