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The United States reaffirmed its One China policy during a meeting between the two nations in early January and reiterated the country’s enduring commitment to freedom of navigation exercises in the Indo-Pacific.
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The renewed commitments were made during the 2024 US-PRC Defense Policy Coordination Talks held at the Pentagon between 8 and 9 January.
The One China policy will be guided by the US’ Taiwan Relations Act, the Three US-China Joint Communiques, and the Six Assurances, Department of Defense spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Martin Meiners outlined.
The meeting was attended by Dr Michael Chase, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for China, Taiwan and Mongolia and the PRC’s Major General Song Yanchao, Deputy Director of the Central Military Commission Office for International Military Cooperation.
The United States also used the meeting to reaffirm its commitment to allies in the region as well as freedom of navigation exercises.
It included statements detailing that the United States will continue to operate at will where legally allowed, while condemning China’s harassment of Philippine maritime vessels.
A Pentagon release outlined that Dr Chase detailed: “That the United States will continue to fly, sail, and operate safely and responsibly wherever international law allows; and underscored that the US commitment to our allies in the Indo-Pacific and globally remains ironclad.
The talks were the first in-person meeting since 2020.
The talks were held just weeks after China signed sweeping new defence cooperation and trade agreements with Vietnam, following years of uncertainty between the two nations.
PRC President Xi Jinping made his first state visit to Vietnam in six years earlier this month with his wife, Peng Liyuan, arriving at Noi Bai International Airport on 12 December to strengthen ties between the two countries.
The general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China reportedly met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam President Vo Van Thuong.
The visit appears to have been a resounding success, with both countries reportedly signing more than 37 agreements covering cross-border rail development and trade, defence cooperation, and an intention to conduct joint patrols in the Gulf of Tonkin and Beibu Gulf in the South China Sea.
“Yesterday, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and I jointly announced our decision to build a China-Vietnam community with a shared future that carries strategic significance, thus ushering in a new stage in the relations between our two parties and countries,” said the president during an address in Hanoi on 13 December.
“This is a major strategic decision we have made to revitalise world socialism and ensure long-term stability and security of our two countries.
“Today, we remain firmly committed to our shared aspiration forged in the early days and are pursuing win-win cooperation.
“Since we established the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership 15 years ago, we, the Communist Party of China and the Communist Party of Vietnam, have pursued people-centred mutually beneficial cooperation, delivering true benefits to our two peoples.”
