The United States military has announced that their representatives held talks with their Chinese counterparts on air and maritime operational safety. The discussions were the first in 28 months.
The US Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement on Friday that the meeting of the Military Maritime Consultative Agreement working group took place on Wednesday and Thursday in Honolulu, Hawaii.
They say that the officials reviewed safety-related events over the last few years and discussed maritime and aviation operational safety.
There have been frequent incidents of military aircraft and vessels from both countries coming very close to each other in the East and South China Seas.
The US delegation stressed that "the US will continue to operate safely and professionally in the Indo-Pacific wherever international law allows."
It added that open communication with the China's military is essential to avoid accidents and misunderstandings.
The Military Maritime Consultative Agreement working group is one of high-level military-to-military communication frameworks which had not been held after then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August, 2022.
US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to resume such bilateral talks when they met in November last year.
The US military statement says the last working group meeting took place in December, 2021.