military activity in the region, triggered vehement criticism from Beijing. It said the two militaries established new channels for dialogue and signed two agreements to improve transparency and reduce the risks of unintended miscalculations by ships and aircraft in the Pacific.Įven as military leaders were meeting, the Obama administration’s widely touted “pivot to the Pacific,” which added troops, ships and other U.S. ties with Beijing, and noted there was a growing number of agreements, conferences, calls and military exercises. The Defense Department’s 2014 report on China’s military power referred to “sustained positive momentum” in U.S. The following year Hagel made a historic visit to Yuchi Naval Base and became the first foreign visitor to go aboard China’s first aircraft carrier as it was docked at the base. And the only way you do that is you talk to each other,” noted then-Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in 2013. “We don’t want miscalculations and misunderstandings and misinterpretations.

commanders routinely traveled to China over the next decade, and Chinese defense leaders came to the Pentagon. He and other defense chiefs, Joint Chiefs chairmen and regional high-level U.S. He said he had used it to speak with the defense minister. And in a 2008 speech in Singapore, then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates noted that relations with China had improved, and that a long-sought direct telephone link between the U.S. In an effort to improve transparency and communication, defense leaders from the two countries were meeting regularly.

And China was suspicious of America’s expanding presence in the region. was concerned about Beijing’s dramatic and rapid military growth.

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