US lawmakers push for military dialogue in a rare China visit : NPR
Chrissy Houlahan, Democratic member of the House Armed Services Committee, on the left, poses for a photo with Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang in the great people’s room in Beijing, China, Sunday.
Mahesh Kumar A./pool AP
hide
tilting legend
Mahesh Kumar A./pool AP
Bangkok – A bipartite group of American legislators did pressure for more military dialogue to military at a meeting on Sunday with Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang, a rare visit to the Congress since American -Chinese relations were embittered.
The last trip of a group of senators was in 2023, and the delegation of Sunday was the first in the House of Representatives to visit Beijing since 2019.
Li welcomed the delegates led by representative Adam Smith and described it as “ice trip which will strengthen the links between the two countries”.
“It is important that our two countries have more exchanges and cooperation, this is not only good for our two countries but also of great importance for the world,” said Li.
Smith, a Democratic Committee of the House of Armed Services, said that the two parties agreed on the overall objective of the visit.
“Admittedly, trade and the economy are at the top of the list … (but also) we are very focused on our military conversations to military,” he said in the opening remarks. “As a member of the Armed Services Committee, I am deeply concerned about the fact that our two soldiers do not communicate more.”
The delegation also included Michael Baumgartner, a republican member of the Chamber’s Foreign Affairs Committee, as well as Ro Khanna and Chrissy Houlahan, both Democrats from the Chamber’s Armed Services Committee. The legislators are in China until Thursday.
American-Chinese relations have slowed down since the first term of President Donald Trump and have been hampered by trade tensions, the status of the Taiwan Auto-Hurlée island, which China claims as its own territory, the support of Beijing for Russia and the vast claims of China in the disputed southern China Sea.
“China and the United States are the two most powerful and influential countries in the world, it is really important that we heard ourselves, and we find a way to coexist peacefully in the world,” said Smith. “I really salute your comments on the desire to build and strengthen this relationship.”
Trump said he would meet Chinese chief Xi Jinping at a regional summit which takes place at the end of October in South Korea and will visit China at the start of next year, “after a long telephone call between the two on Friday.
