Facing the Dragon

Adm. Timothy Keating, head of U.S. Pacific Command, was asked during a Pentagon briefing today for his assessment of the military-to-military component of U.S.-China relations. Keating, whose tour of duty ends in three months if the Senate confirms his replacement (Pacific Fleet head Adm. Robert Willard), said he would be attending a meeting next week between Defense and State department officials to discuss U.S.-China relations.

"The mil-to-mil dialogue with China is not robust right now," Keating said, adding:

It has been essentially on hold since our latest announcement of Taiwan arms sales in October of 2008. I've not been to Beijing in over a year, nor has any senior military leader been to Pacific Command headquarters in Hawaii in that same time.

As you're well aware, Michele Flournoy just returned from senior- level discussions with colleagues and counterparts in China. We hope that this is a clear signal on the part of the Chinese of their intention to resume pure military-to-military dialogue.

I am not scheduled to go to Beijing, for what it's worth. I do think, however, that Admiral Bob Willard, presuming Senate confirmation, after he takes command, will go to China in -- I don't know, sometime maybe into 2010.

So we would rather have more frequent dialogue. We would have -- more importantly, we'd rather have more robust dialogue, something substantive. There's plenty of substance to discuss. Right now it's not going on.

Inside the Pentagon reported last week that a planned meeting scheduled for this month between U.S. and Chinese naval officers to discuss avoiding dangerous incidents at sea had been delayed:

After conducting Defense Consultative Talks in China in late June, Pentagon policy chief Michèle Flournoy told reporters in Beijing that U.S. and Chinese naval officials would meet in July. But that is no longer expected because both sides are still in the midst of scheduling the session.

“There is still no firm date,” Defense Department spokeswoman Maj. Maureen Schumann told Inside the Pentagon, noting this is still being worked out. The talks “will not be held this month,” she said.

“Looks like it won’t be in July,” U.S. Pacific Command spokesman Capt. Jeffrey Breslau added. But the commitment to meet remains.

The meeting would be a “special” session held under the 1998 Military Maritime Consultative Agreement (MMCA) between the two countries. Unlike annual plenary or working group MMCA meetings, special sessions are convened to address specific matters of concern.

For his part, Keating today still held out hope that such a meeting could take place soon:

We hope that the MMCA -- Military Maritime Consultative Agreement -- meets in the near future. It was agreed to by China and by the United States Department of Defense, precise scheduling not certain. It's an important dialogue in a relatively narrow sense of MMCA; in a broader sense, mil to mil with Pacific Command. We hope that it is invigorated sooner than later.