Since June, high-level dialogues and meetings between China and the United States have followed one after another, attracting widespread attention from the international public opinion community.
First, at the "Shangri-La Dialogue" held in mid-June, the Chinese and American defense ministers held their first offline talks in three years. The two sides discussed the relationship between the Chinese and American militaries, crisis management and control, Russia-Ukraine issues and the Taiwan issue. Conduct in-depth exchanges to cool down the crisis situation caused by the previous "fighting of tactics" between the Chinese and American navies and air forces in the Western Pacific.
At almost the same time, Director Yang Jiechi and Sullivan went to Luxembourg to hold a new strategic meeting on behalf of the heads of state of China and the United States.
With the economic downturn, supply chain crisis, and food crisis intensifying, the U.S. business community has continued to put pressure on the White House , demanding a reduction in import tariffs on Chinese goods. Vice Premier Liu He held talks with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to exchange views on trade and tariff issues.
This week, the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting will be held in the Indonesian tourist resort Bali . Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Secretary of State Blinken will hold another offline meeting since their meeting in Rome last October. According to previous media reports, the Taiwan Strait issue and the Russia-Ukraine issue will be the top priority in exchanges between the two sides. There is no doubt that the outcome of the Sino-U.S. foreign ministers’ talks will set the tone for the overall direction of Sino-U.S. relations in the future. As the ballast of Sino-U.S. relations, the Sino-U.S. military relationship needs to attract greater attention from the outside world.
According to the official website of the Ministry of National Defense, on July 7, Beijing time, General Li Zuocheng, Chief of Staff of the Joint Staff of the Military Commission, held a video call with Milai, Chairman of the US Army Joint Chiefs of Staff, at request.
Li Zuocheng emphasized that the Chinese and American militaries should respect each other, coexist peacefully, and cooperate for win-win results in the spirit of the meeting between the heads of state of both sides. Especially in the face of the current complex and changing international situation, it is even more necessary to manage differences rather than create confrontations and provoke disputes.
Li Zuocheng said that China has no room for compromise on the issue of safeguarding the country's core interests. China requires the United States to abide by the one-China principle and the provisions of the three joint communiques, and avoid collusion between the United States and Taiwan that will affect the overall situation of Sino-US relations. Otherwise, the People's Liberation Army will take resolute measures to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The above-mentioned statements have been emphasized in many previous dialogues between the Chinese and American defense ministers. However, unlike before, this meeting has three details worthy of in-depth exploration by the outside world.
Detail 1: The identities of the two parties in the talks are unusual.
In previous high-level exchanges between the Chinese and American militaries, they were basically conducted in the form of "Minister of Defense versus Minister of Defense." Although this set of mechanisms is quite mature and can conduct in-depth communication from the perspective of Sino-US defense strategies, it also has its own inherent limitations. This limitation is reflected in the fact that the US Secretary of Defense is a civilian and is not 100% familiar with military affairs, which to some extent restricts the depth of dialogue between the two parties.
The Chief of Joint Staff of the People's Liberation Army and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U.S. Army are both the highest-ranking officers within the military systems of China and the United States. They are the "top leaders" of their respective armies. The same position and the same identity make the dialogue between the two easier. From a military perspective.
At the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022, Milley took the initiative to speak to General Li Zuocheng twice, stating that the United States "will never go to war with China" in an attempt to dispel China's doubts about war caused by the political chaos in the United States. Although the purpose of Milley's move is to safeguard the national defense security of the United States, it also objectively promotes the overall peace and stability of China and the United States.
Detail 2: "Year on appointment"
Although the word "Year on appointment" only consists of two simple words, the amount of information behind it cannot be explained clearly in two sentences. To put it simply, China's phone call with the United States "as requested" shows that China is taking the initiative in the overall framework of the game between China and the United States. Although this kind of "initiative" does not reflect the true balance of power between China and the United States, the trend of "rising in the east and falling in the west" is obviously unstoppable.
On issues such as supply chain issues, fiscal crisis, and climate change, the United States obviously relies on China.Especially at the beginning of this month, three Chinese airlines purchased 292 aircraft from Airbus at the same time, causing shock in the U.S. business community. If Washington can no longer seek to improve relations with China from a strategic and commercial perspective, the inflation crisis and economic downturn in the United States will continue to spread.
Detail 3: Background board difference
It can be clearly seen from the official photos that General Li’s side is arranged according to the height of the talks between China and the United States. The Chinese five-star red flag and the American stars and stripes alternate; Milley’s side However, only the American flag and the flag of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were displayed, and there was no Chinese flag.
Diplomacy is no small matter. The purpose of the United States in doing so is obviously not "poor communication" or "staff error", but that it always thinks about itself and does not really stand at the strategic height of China and the United States to conduct this. The conversation, in other words, was still self-centered. If this kind of thinking cannot be changed in exchanges with China, it will cause a series of disasters in the future.
