China, US military commanders snap 2-year break with talks in Canada

Chinese and US military commanders have resumed top-level theatre contact after a two-year break, meeting on the sidelines of a defence conference in Canada.

General Yang Zhibin, commander of China’s Eastern Theatre Command, and US Admiral Samuel Paparo met Monday in Victoria, British Columbia, at the Indo-Pacific Chiefs of Defence Conference. The Eastern Theatre Command oversees the area around the Taiwan Strait.

The US command said the two officers discussed the importance of keeping communication channels open between senior Chinese and US military leaders. Those channels, it said, can reduce the risk of miscalculation and support safe and professional conduct between the two forces.

Canada’s armed forces and the US Pacific Command co-hosted the conference, which ran from Monday through Wednesday. Thirty-two senior military representatives from 29 countries attended.

The meeting was the second theatre-level contact since China scaled back military ties with the United States in August 2022. Military engagement resumed after the Chinese and US presidents agreed in San Francisco in 2023 to restart communication between the People’s Liberation Army and the Pentagon.