US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy discussed security in the Indo-Pacific region and stressed the need to maintain the status quo in the Taiwan Strait during their US-UK Strategic Dialogue, highlighting its global significance.
“We also discussed joint efforts to ensure peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea. For both of us, maintaining peace and stability, maintaining the status quo, is important,” Blinken told reporters at a joint news conference with Lammy in London.
“This is not just important for us; it is important for countries all over the world,” Blinken added.
U.S. officials have stressed the need to maintain open, high-level communication between Washington and Beijing to dispel misconceptions and prevent rivalry from escalating into conflict.
Earlier this week, the United States and China held talks at the theater commander level for the first time in an attempt to stabilize military relations.
A video conference on Monday between U.S. Indo-Pacific Command commander Adm. Samuel Paparo and People's Liberation Army Southern Theater Commander General Wu Yanan was aimed at preventing misunderstandings, especially in regional hot spots such as the South China Sea.
According to the US Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral Paparo stressed the Chinese military's responsibility to comply with international laws and norms to ensure operational security.
“Paparo also called on the PLA to reconsider its use of dangerous, coercive and potentially escalatory tactics in the South China Sea and beyond.”
China's Ministry of National Defense issued a press release in Beijing on Tuesday saying the two commanders exchanged views on issues of mutual concern, but provided no further details of the discussion.
Washington is trying to establish new channels of regular military communication with Beijing after relations hit a historic low when the US shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon last year.
Talks at the theater commander level are distinct from the broader discussions between the U.S. and Chinese chiefs of defense, which cover all strategic issues affecting both countries, Ryan Haas, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told VOA.
Theater-level talks provide a platform for more substantive discussions on operational issues, crisis management and conflict resolution at the operator level, added Haas, a former senior White House National Security Council official from 2013 to 2017.
Paparo and Wu's virtual meeting came after a meeting in Beijing last month in which US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Chinese leader Xi Jinping's top military adviser agreed to talks.