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Nayan Seth

Han Li

A senior Pentagon official on Tuesday said US-China military communication was “stronger than it has been in years”, marking a rare bright spot in the broader strategic rivalry between the world’s two most powerful countries.
“Under the leadership of Secretary [Pete] Hegseth, we are actively repairing a once broken military-to-military channel and making clear, steady progress,” said Alvaro Smith, deputy assistant defence secretary for China, Taiwan and Mongolia.
He made the remarks during a reception at the Chinese embassy in Washington celebrating the 99th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.
While it is not unusual for US officials – civilian or uniformed – to attend the Chinese embassy’s Army Day reception, it is not typical for a Defence Department policymaker to deliver a speech at the event.
It comes as preparations are under way for a US visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping in September. Last week, China’s foreign vice-minister, Ma Zhaoxu, travelled to Washington to lay the groundwork for that trip, while Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel went to Beijing.
During Tuesday’s reception, Smith also said Washington was not seeking “conflict with China” and hoped to maintain a “peaceful” and “respectful” bilateral relationship.
“The department has embraced a new approach to our military relationship – one built on candid, respectful, clear conversations with genuine interest in de-escalation, while continuing to advance our nation’s priorities,” he said.
“This is how two powerful militaries should engage, and over the last year and a half, we made this a reality.”

Smith said the US recognised that “maintaining open lines of military-to-military communication reduces the risk of misperception, prevents miscalculation, and increases mutual understanding”.
“These exchanges serve as a credible channel for crisis prevention, and we want this communication to endure, regardless of broader strategic dynamics.”
Despite a still-contentious economic relationship marked by tit-for-tat tariffs, export controls and sanctions, military engagement between Washington and Beijing has intensified in recent months, with officials from both sides stepping up exchanges at multiple levels.
Last week, US defence undersecretary for policy Elbridge Colby hosted Chinese foreign vice-minister Ma at the Pentagon in the latest high-level engagement between Washington and Beijing.
“Under President [Donald] Trump and Secretary Hegseth’s leadership, we deal with our Chinese counterparts in a spirit of respect, candour, and realism,” Colby wrote on social media.
“In that vein, I had a direct discussion with Minister Ma, and we look forward to further exchanges with our Chinese counterparts in the coming months.”
During his remarks at the embassy reception on Tuesday, Beijing’s top envoy to Washington Xie Feng said that “the stabilising and improving momentum in China-US relations has not come easily, and should be doubly cherished”.
“We hope the US side will work with us in the same direction to … promote world peace with bilateral strategic stability,” he said, according to a transcript released by the Chinese embassy.
Speaking at the same event, Chinese defence attaché Major General Liu Zhan also welcomed the improvement in military ties, saying both sides “share an interest in maintaining stable and constructive relations”.
He also pointed to China’s cooperation with the US military in recovering the remains of American soldiers who went missing in China during World War II.
As part of those efforts, US defence recovery teams travelled to China in early July to resume searches for missing service members.
The rapprochement is a sharp departure from the situation under the Joe Biden administration, when a series of incidents led to an escalation in tensions that left military-to-military ties largely frozen.
US-China military relations took a sharp downturn in 2022 following then-US House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s high-profile visit to Taiwan.
Beijing suspended several key military dialogue mechanisms with Washington, viewing the visit as a violation of its sovereignty claims over the island.
The Taiwan issue has been the most sensitive between Beijing and Washington. Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent nation, but Washington opposes any attempt to seize the self-governing island by force and has pledged to supply it with weapons.
High-level military exchanges remained limited for much of the following year, and US officials said Chinese leaders repeatedly declined requests for dialogue aimed at reducing the risk of military misunderstandings or miscalculations. Communication began to recover after leaders from both countries agreed in late 2023 to resume military contact.

Signalling that trend, Hegseth met his Chinese counterpart, Admiral Dong Jun, in Malaysia late last year – the first face-to-face talks between the two countries’ defence chiefs since the start of the second Trump administration.
On Tuesday, Chinese ambassador Xie stressed China’s “red lines”.
“Taiwan, democracy and human rights, path and system, and development rights are China’s four red lines which should not be challenged,” he said.
“We hope the US side will adhere to the one-China principle and the three Sino-US Joint Communiqués, and exercise extra caution in handling the Taiwan question,” he said, adding that Beijing would “resolutely safeguard its sovereignty, security, and development interests”.
In December, senior US and Chinese defence officials met in Washington in another sign of renewed military-to-military ties.
But tensions remain. The Pentagon has accused Chinese fighter jets and warships of conducting unsafe and unprofessional interceptions of US forces operating in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.
And at this year’s Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Hegseth warned of China’s “historic military build-up” and urged Asian countries to strengthen their defence spending and capabilities.
The Pentagon has also blacklisted several Chinese companies over their alleged ties to China’s military.
Additional reporting by Orange Wang


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Speaking at the Chinese embassy, US deputy assistant defence secretary Alvaro Smith says ‘clear, steady progress’ is being made


Speaking at the Chinese embassy, US deputy assistant defence secretary Alvaro Smith says ‘clear, steady progress’ is being made.


Pentagon official hails ‘stronger’ military ties in rare speech at PLA anniversary event

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Speaking at the Chinese embassy, US deputy assistant defence secretary Alvaro Smith says ‘clear, steady progress’ is being made

Speaking at the Chinese embassy, US deputy assistant defence secretary Alvaro Smith says ‘clear, steady progress’ is being made