American legislators insist on military dialogue in a rare China visit: NPR

Chrissy Houlahan, democratic member of the Huis Armed Services Committee, on the left, poses for a photo with Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China on Sunday.

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Bangkok-a dual group of American legislators insisted on a more military-to-military dialogue in a meeting on Sunday with Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang, a rare congress visit since the relations of the US china have been souring.

The last trip by a group of senators was in 2023 and Sunday’s delegation was the first of the House of Representatives who visited Beijing since 2019.

Li welcomed the representatives led by Rep. Adam Smith and called it an “ice -breaking journey that will promote ties 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 significance for the world,” Li said.

Smith, a democrat in the committee for armed services of the house, said that both parties agreed on the umbrella goal of the visit.

“Certainly, the trade and the economy are at the top of the list … (but also) we are very focused on our military conversations,” he said in opening comments. “As a member of the Armed Services Committee, I am very concerned that our two soldiers no longer communicate.”

The delegation also included Michael Baumgartner, a republican member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, as well as Ro Khanna and Chrissy Houlahan, both Democrats in the Huis Armed Services Committee. The legislators are in China until Thursday.

Since the first term of President Donald Trump, the relations between the US and China have taken a recession and have been bumped through trade stresses, the status of the self-governed island of Taiwan, which China claims as his own territory, the support of Beijing for Russia and the enormous claims of China in the Betworte Zuid-Chinese Sea.

“China and the US are the two most powerful and influential countries in the world, it is really important that we get along together, and we find a way to exist peacefully in the world,” said Smith. “I really welcome your comments about wanting to build and strengthen that relationship.”

Trump said he would meet the Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a regional top that would take place in Zuid -Korea at the end of October and visit China in the “early part of next year”, after a long phone call between the two on Friday.