U.S., Chinese military officials meet for defense policy coordination talks

U.S. and Chinese military and civilian officials met in Beijing this week to discuss bilateral defense issues.

The discussions also included the annual meeting of the "U.S.-China Notification of Major Military Activities Confidence Building Measures Working Group," according to a Pentagon statement. "Both sides discussed current issues in the military-to-military relationship, reaffirmed a commitment to sustaining U.S.-China confidence building measures and exchanged views on the implementation of the existing agreements."

Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia Brig. Gen. Roberta Shea led the U.S. delegation, which included representatives from the Joint Staff, U.S. Pacific Command and the State Department.

Maj. Gen. Huang Xueping, deputy director of the Chinese office for international military cooperation led his country's delegation, comprised of representatives from the People's Liberation Army and other military offices.

"The meeting is an important component of the broader program of engagements between the two nations' militaries and seeks to foster substantive dialogue in areas of mutual interest, maintain effective communication channels, and enhance risk reduction," the Pentagon statement reads, adding: "This year's talks emphasized the positive momentum in the U.S.-China military-to-military relationship and set a direction for continued success into 2018. Key regional and global issues were also discussed."

A potential conflict with China as well as Russia is among the drivers of the Defense Department's modernization plans, according to Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Paul Selva.

The "primary difference" between previous strategies and the new National Defense Strategy unveiled last month is how the U.S. military will organize itself to engage in great power competition with China and Russia, Selva said at a Defense Writers Group breakfast this week.

China presents largely an air and maritime challenge, Selva said, while any conflict with Russia would mostly be fought in the air and on land.

"What we're trying to say in this National Defense Strategy is there are two unique competitions that we have to deal with, and the elements are overlapping but not the same," Selva said. "That means you have to be able to address both of them inside of a capability and capacity model that's affordable with our budgets."