A Defense Department delegation will reaffirm the United States’ commitment to peace and security in the Indo-Pacific while in Beijing this week to attend an international security forum and hold high-level talks with Chinese military officials. 

Michael S. Chase, deputy assistant secretary of defense for China, Taiwan and Mongolia, will lead the U.S. delegation attending this year’s Xiangshan security forum and participate in the 18th iteration of the Defense Policy Coordination Talks between the U.S. and China after the countries reopened their military-to-military dialogue last year.  

Officials said the delegation will engage with regional allies and partners on the sidelines of the Xiangshan Forum to underscore the United States’ shared vision for the region “underpinned by a set of enduring beliefs.” 

“Those include respect for sovereignty, adherence to international law, belief in transparency and openness, freedom of commerce and navigation, equal rights for all states and resolution of disputes through peaceful means, not through coercion or conflict,” a senior defense official said yesterday. “This is not a vision for the region that you’re going to hear by [China] and some of its friends who will be in attendance.” 

The official said the U.S. remains concerned about China’s increasingly coercive behavior in the region.

“That is why the department is doing more than ever with our allies and partners, including some of those who are in attendance at this week’s Xiangshan Forum, to work together to strengthen peace, stability and deterrence across the Indo-Pacific,” the official said.  

Following the forum, Chase will lead the U.S. delegation in attending the defense coordination talks. President Joe Biden secured China’s agreement to return to military-to-military talks last November after meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Woodside, California. 

In January, senior U.S. and Chinese military officials resumed the U.S.-China Defense Policy Coordination Talks at the Pentagon. Prior to that, the high-level talks were last held in September 2021. 

Speaking to reporters yesterday, the senior U.S. defense official said the discussions are an opportunity for candid discussion about U.S. concerns over issues affecting the countries’ relationship.  

“U.S. diplomacy and channels of communication do not indicate any change in our approach to [China],” the official said. “This is an intensely competitive relationship, but we are committed to managing that competition responsibly and preventing it from veering into conflict,” the official said.

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