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

China and the US have ended a two-year break in command-level contact with a meeting in Canada between the top PLA officer overseeing the Taiwan Strait and his US Pacific counterpart.

Chinese General Yang Zhibin, commander of the Eastern Theatre Command, and US Admiral Samuel Paparo met for the first time at the Indo-Pacific Chiefs of Defence Conference in Victoria, British Columbia, on Monday.

The US command said on Friday that Yang and Paparo discussed the importance of maintaining open lines of communication between senior US and Chinese military leaders to reduce the risk of miscalculation and to promote safe and professional conduct between forces.

The conference was co-hosted by the Canadian Armed Forces and the US Pacific Command and took place from Monday to Wednesday. A total of 32 senior military representatives from 29 countries attended.

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This is the second theatre-level contact since China scaled back military ties with the US in August 2022.

Engagement resumed after the Chinese and US presidents agreed in San Francisco in 2023 to restart communications between the People’s Liberation Army and the Pentagon.