Officials in Washington and Beijing have agreed to high-level conversations between their militaries, according to a person familiar with the matter.
During a 3½-hour virtual summit with President Joe Biden on Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to support such discussions between the U.S. military and top officials from the People’s Liberation Army, including the vice chairman of the country’s powerful Central Military Commission, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing internal deliberations.
The White House is now defining a strategy on how to approach these engagements, including in the areas of cybersecurity, space and nuclear weapons, as well as testing and deployment issues of concern to the U.S., the person said. The discussions won’t be formal arms control negotiations of the kind that the U.S. previously held with the Soviet Union and Russia, according to the person, who said the exact format for the forthcoming military-to-military talks is still to be determined.