WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- China is reviving talks on military issues with the United States after an eight-month freeze, the Pentagon said Wednesday.
The agreement came during a visit to Beijing this week by Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Michael Schiffer, spokesman Col. David Lapan told the Voice of America.
Talks on naval issues will start in Hawaii in mid-October with a broader set of consultations to follow in Washington later in the year, Lapan said. These are regular, senior-level meetings.
China froze defense relations in January after Washington approved a $6 billion arms sale to Taiwan. It was the second such move by Beijing in three years in response to such sales, prompting senior U.S. officials to call for an end to such retaliatory steps.
Lapan said of the Chinese, "I can't speak for them. But they did certainly agree that having these types of regular contacts and building this relationship was key to that trust and to avoid miscommunication and miscalculation."
