State Department — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy addressed Indo-Pacific security and highlighted the need to maintain the status quo on the Taiwan Strait during their U.S.-U.K. Strategic Dialogue, underscoring its global significance. 

“We also discussed joint efforts to ensure peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and freedom of navigation and overflight of the South China Sea. For both of us, maintaining peace and stability, preserving the status quo is essential,” Blinken told reporters during a joint press conference with Lammy in London. 

“It’s essential not just to us; it’s, again, essential to countries all around the world,” Blinken added.    

U.S. officials have stressed the need to keep open high-level communication between Washington and Beijing to clear up misperceptions and prevent their competition from escalating into conflict. 

Earlier this week, the United States and China held theater-level commander talks for the first time in an effort to stabilize military relations. 

The video teleconference Monday, between Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, and General Wu Yanan, commander of the People’s Liberation Army’s Southern Theater Command, was aimed at preventing misunderstandings, particularly in regional hotspots like the South China Sea.  

According to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral Paparo emphasized the Chinese military’s responsibility to adhere to international laws and norms to ensure operational safety.  

“Paparo also urged the PLA to reconsider its use of dangerous, coercive, and potentially escalatory tactics in the South China Sea and beyond.” 

In Beijing, China’s Ministry of National Defense issued a press release Tuesday stating the two commanders exchanged views on matters of mutual concern, but did not provide further details about the discussion. 

Washington has been seeking to establish new channels for regular military communication with Beijing after relations hit a historic low when the U.S. downed a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon last year. 

The theater-level commander talks differ from the broader discussions between U.S. and Chinese defense chiefs, which cover all strategic issues impacting both nations, Ryan Haas, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told VOA. 

The theater-level talks provide a platform for more focused discussions on operational issues, crisis management, and deconfliction at an operator-to-operator level, added Haas, a former senior official on the White House National Security Council from 2013 to 2017. 

The virtual meeting between Paparo and Wu followed a meeting last month in Beijing, where U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s top military adviser agreed to the talks.
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