After the meeting between United States President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, in November, the U.S and China have managed to stabilise their relationship from the free fall it was in through 2023, beginning with the spy balloon episode. The new year could bring new turbulence arising from the outcome of the elections in Taiwan and the fact that it would be an election year in the U.S. where both parties are vying to show how tough they are on Beijing.
One sign of the efforts to manage the relationship without confrontation was visible in the recent virtual meeting between their top military officials, General Charles Q. Brown, and General Liu Zhenli. China broke off military contact following former U.S. Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August 2022.
The U.S. had been seeking such a meeting for a while, but was foiled by the sanctions it had placed on the Chinese Defence Minister, General Li Shangfu, in 2018. With the latter’s purge last month, the way opened up for the meeting between the two U.S. and Chinese defence officials and a restoration of the normal dialogue between the two militaries.
