Enemies are getting hotter, China’s military ignores Pentagon calls

WASHINGTON – High ranking military officials China had ignored phone calls from top Pentagon officials. Beijing’s attitude is allegedly in retaliation for the visit of the Speaker of the House of Representatives United States of America (USA) Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan which China considers as a provocative act.

According to reports Politico, Saturday (6/8/2022) China’s military has rejected several phone calls from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley in recent days. The report cited three sources familiar with the Pentagon’s efforts.

General Milley’s last contact with China’s Joint Chiefs of Staff General Li Zuocheng was on July 7, 2022, while Austin met Chinese Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe in person in June.

On Friday, Beijing severed some diplomatic ties with Washington, including the military and civilian spheres.

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China’s Foreign Affairs released a list of issues where there would be no more communication between Beijing and Washington officials, including military contacts at the theater commander level and talks on broader defense policy coordination.

The ministry said China was also suspending maritime security consultations, cooperation in repatriating illegal migrants, legal assistance in criminal matters, fighting transnational crime and drug trafficking, and talks on climate change.

While not commenting on the cut off of top-level military communications as American media reported, the White House said China’s recent moves increased the “risk of miscalculation and misperception”.

However, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby insisted that did not completely eliminate the opportunity for senior American military officials to speak.

“You have a lot of military hardware operating in a limited area, it’s great, especially now, to open up those lines of communication,” Kirby said.

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