Media: US, China reestablish defence dialogue

Washington and Beijing are taking cautious steps to restore diplomatic cooperation between their defence ministries after a nearly two-year hiatus in relations.

In recent weeks, US officials have managed to arrange long-awaited meetings with senior Chinese military officials, including Gen. Wu Yanan, who oversees operations in the South China Sea, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

The efforts are being made against the backdrop of “tensions in the South China Sea and China’s support for Russia.”

Notably, the 11th Beijing Xiangshan Forum kicked off on September 12. The number and level of participants have exceeded all previous years, with over 500 official representatives from more than 100 countries and international organizations, as well as over 200 experts and scholars from both China and abroad.

The forum comes at a time when China and the US are enhancing military exchanges, with foreign media outlets reporting that the US will send higher-ranking officials compared to last year.

The theme of this year's forum is "Promoting Peace for a Shared Future," with four plenary sessions that include topics such as "Security Cooperation and Asia-Pacific Prosperity and Stability."

There will also be eight simultaneous special sessions covering issues such as "ASEAN and Security Architecture of Asia-Pacific" and "Maintaining Northeast Asian Security."