China and the United States have held their second round of maritime security talks this year to help manage risks between their militaries, according to the Chinese navy.
The talks, held in Hawaii from Tuesday to Thursday, were “candid and constructive,” the PLA Navy said in a statement on Saturday.
It said both sides exchanged views on the security situation, discussing cases of air and sea encounters and measures to improve operational safety.
The meeting marked the latest effort by the geopolitical rivals to keep military-to-military communication on track amid tensions across multiple domains, including in the East and South China seas.
The talks took place as tensions continue to grow between Beijing and Tokyo, a long-time US treaty ally, over the Japanese leader’s comments on Taiwan.
Beijing has reacted with a string of retaliatory measures after Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested on November 7 that Tokyo could deploy its military forces in the event of a conflict in the Taiwan Strait, in the first such comment from a sitting Japanese leader.
China has since issued travel warnings for Japan, cancelled Japanese shows and concerts and suspended official cultural exchanges. Last Sunday, it also deployed a coastguard formation to the disputed Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea. Japan controls the group of islands and calls them the Senkaku.
Meanwhile, Washington has reaffirmed its commitment to the Japan alliance and the country’s defence. “Our commitment to the US-Japan alliance and to Japan’s defence, including the Japan-administered Senkaku Islands, is unwavering,” US State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said in a social media post on November 21.
The agenda for the Hawaii talks included the second working group meeting under the US-China Military Maritime Consultative Agreement (MMCA) mechanism this year. It followed an April session in Shanghai, which included the first such working-level meeting since US President Donald Trump began his second term in office.
The MMCA framework, established in 1998, was suspended in 2022 after then US House speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, provoking strong condemnation from Beijing.
It was revived in April last year, after Chinese President Xi Jinping and then US president Joe Biden agreed in November 2023 to resume direct military communications.
Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the US and Japan, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons.
According to Saturday’s People’s Liberation Army statement, the US and China agreed that the MMCA helped their frontline forces interact in a “more professional and safer” manner, reducing the risk of misunderstanding or miscalculation and helping to manage crises.
The statement also said that China “firmly opposes any infringement, provocation and close-in reconnaissance activities” targeting the country, and would “continue to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in accordance with the law and regulations”.
The American side was represented by officials from the Indo-Pacific Command, Pacific Fleet, Pacific Air Forces and Coast Guard, the US Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement on Thursday.
It said the semi-annual forum provided for discussions between operators focused on “reducing the risk of unsafe and unprofessional encounters”.
The talks also took place against a backdrop of heightened tensions in the South China Sea, where maritime clashes between rival claimants Beijing and Manila have continued.
On November 14, the PLA’s Southern Theatre Command conducted a “bomber formation patrol” over the disputed waters as the Philippines, another American treaty ally in the region, carried out two days of joint patrols with the US and Japan.
On Friday, China accused the US of being “the biggest threat to peace and stability in the South China Sea”.
Teng Fei, a counsellor with China’s permanent mission to the UN, made the comment during a Security Council meeting on maritime safety and security, according to Chinese media reports. He was responding to a US representative who had described China’s actions in the region as “provocative and dangerous”.
The US had deployed weapons in the South China Sea region, including land-based intermediate-range missiles, Teng noted, in a likely reference to America’s deployment of its Typhon missile system during drills with the Philippines, which has triggered strong objections from Beijing.
Washington also “frequently sent military ships and aircraft to flex its muscles under the pretext of freedom of navigation, while openly sowing discord among countries in the region”, he added.
Teng said China was committed to properly managing maritime disputes with the parties concerned through dialogue and consultation, on the basis of respecting historical facts and international law.
Washington has previously accused Beijing of “coercive and risky operational behaviour” towards US assets operating lawfully in international airspace over the East and South China seas.
China, while criticising the US for flexing its muscles in the region, has also reported cases of close encounters with foreign aircraft. A Chinese J-16 fighter jet locked onto and drove away two unidentified foreign stealth fighters during coastal training last year, state broadcaster CCTV reported in early October.
The latest MMCA talks came about a month after two US naval aircraft crashed in the disputed South China Sea.
Beijing said it was willing to offer humanitarian assistance if asked, after a US Navy fighter and helicopter crashed in separate incidents on October 26 during routine operations from the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier. It remains unclear whether the incident was addressed during this week’s meetings.
Frequent US military deployments in the South China Sea were the “root cause” of maritime security problems, Beijing said after the US crashes, adding that it was “willing to provide assistance to the US from a humanitarian perspective”.
The US often sent warships and aircraft to the South China Sea to “show off its military power, which is the root cause of maritime security issues and undermines regional peace and stability”, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on October 27.
No official cause has been released for the crashes. China has denied that electronic jamming played any role in the accidents, CCTV reported earlier this month.