US and China commanders to discuss conflict prevention 'in next few weeks'

By David Brunnstrom and Michael Martina

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The commander of the U.S. forces in the Indo-Pacific will speak to a southern theater commander of China's armed forces in the next few weeks, with the aim of preventing any military misunderstandings between the superpowers, the U.S. ambassador to China said on Thursday.

The remark from Nicholas Burns came after a visit to Beijing last month by U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who met Chinese leader Xi Jinping's leading military adviser and agreed that U.S. Indo-Pacific command leaders would soon speak by phone to their counterparts in China's southern theater command, which covers its southern seas.

"I think that Admiral Sam Paparo ... is going to have a conversation with a southern theater commander of the People's Liberation Army in the next few weeks," Burns said in an online interview with Foreign Policy magazine.

Burns said Washington had been pursuing closer military-to-military communication channels with Beijing since ties sank to a historic low point after the U.S. downed a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon last year.

"Even during the balloon incident, the Chinese refused to talk to our senior military leadership, but now we've made some progress," Burns said, and referred to Paparo's plans.

"We very much hope that that will continue at even more senior levels," involving U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his counterpart, and the chairman of the U.S. Joints Chiefs of Staff Charles Brown and his counterpart, Burns said.

"We've got to have that connectivity, so that if there is an accident or a misunderstanding, our military leaders can meet to lower the temperature, divide any parties that have collided, or are arguing, and make sure that we have a rational way to resolve problems."

Burns said he was worried by "the aggressive nature" of China's military buildup and the "aggressive, intimidating behavior" of its navy towards U.S. allies the Philippines and Japan.

"I certainly worry about an unintended conflict in between our military forces, an accident, an accidental collision," he said. "Our navies and air forces are operating in international waters, international airspace, in very close proximity in this entire region.

"And that's why we want to have a commitment from the government of China that should an accident occur, we can have instantaneous communication between our military leaders to reduce the temperature, separate the parties and resolve the problem."

Burns also said the United States had been encouraged by some progress with China in dealing with the scourge of fentanyl, the leading cause of U.S. drug overdoses, but wants to see more actions on precursor chemicals, arrests and attention to illicit finance.

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom, Daphne Psaledakis and Michael Martina; Editing by Sandra Maler)