{"id":47547,"date":"2017-08-15T13:49:50","date_gmt":"2017-08-15T13:49:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/08\/15\/top-us-military-officer-notes-difficult-issues-with-china\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:01:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:01:03","slug":"top-us-military-officer-notes-difficult-issues-with-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/2017\/08\/15\/top-us-military-officer-notes-difficult-issues-with-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Top US military officer notes ‘difficult issues’ with China"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BEIJING \u2014 The top U.S. military officer told his Chinese counterpart Tuesday that the U.S. and China have \u201cmany difficult issues\u201d to work through, during a visit that comes amid tensions over North Korea\u2019s missile program, Taiwan and China\u2019s claims in the South China Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the remarks at the opening of a meeting with Fang Fenghui, chief of the People\u2019s Liberation Army\u2019s joint staff department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. officials say Dunford\u2019s visit aims to create a mechanism for improving communication between the sides, especially on sensitive issues such as North Korea. Dunford and Fang signed an agreement committing the sides to that goal, with the details to be discussed during talks in Washington in November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fang said Dunford\u2019s visit was a key part of efforts to expand dialogue between the U.S. and China as agreed by President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, when they met earlier this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To that end, China has arranged a series of important meetings and visits to help Dunford \u201cknow more about our military, (boost) our cooperation and build up our friendship,\u201d Fang said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dunford responded that the U.S. considered the meetings important to making progress on areas of disagreement, without citing any specific examples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think here, we have to be honest \u2014 we have many, many difficult issues where we don\u2019t necessarily share the same perspective,\u201d Dunford said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know we share one thing: We share a commitment to work through these difficult issues,\u201d he added, saying that with the guidance of political leaders \u201cwe are going to make some progress over the next few days.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the highest-level meeting between the two countries\u2019 militaries since Trump and Xi met in Florida in April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford, center left, and Chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Gen. Fang Fenghui shake hands after signing an agreement at the Bayi Building in Beijing, Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017, to strengthen communication between the two militaries amid tensions concerning North Korea. (Mark Schiefelbein\/AP via Pool)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. delegation will be flying to the northeastern city of Shenyang on Wednesday to observe an exercise staged by the People\u2019s Liberation Army\u2019s Northern Theater Command. Fang cited the event as being among the measures aimed at building mutual trust and understanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the sides agreed several years ago to establish a hotline between the Pentagon and China\u2019s defense ministry, that mechanism has never gone into operation. U.S. officials say they\u2019ve attempted to use it, but that the Chinese side has never answered their requests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Chinese and U.S. militaries have joined in naval exercises off the coast of Hawaii and other limited multinational drills mainly aimed at dealing with humanitarian disasters. They\u2019ve also tried to improve mutual trust through agreements on dealing with unexpected encounters at sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite those, China deeply resents the presence of the U.S. Navy in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims virtually in its entirety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, China expressed its \u201cstrong dissatisfaction\u201d with the U.S. over the Navy\u2019s latest freedom of navigation operation in which a warship sailed past one of China\u2019s man-made islands.<\/p>\n\n\n\t