A senior US lawmaker has cautioned against the growing risk of military misunderstandings between Washington and Beijing as defense technologies evolve at a rapid pace.
Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said in Beijing on Tuesday that China must engage in greater military dialogue with other powers to ensure “basic de-confliction.”
“We’ve seen this with our ships, our planes, their ships, their planes coming entirely too close to one another,” Smith told reporters at the US Embassy. “We need to have a better conversation about de-conflicting those things.”
Smith leads a four-member delegation that includes fellow Armed Services Committee members Ro Khanna and Chrissy Houlahan, as well as Republican Congressman Michael Baumgartner of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
On Monday, the group met with Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun, discussing the importance of “working through our differences” through candid dialogue. According to China’s state-run Xinhua, Dong urged the US side to “remove disruptive and restrictive factors” in bilateral relations.
Highlighting new security challenges, Smith pointed to AI, drone warfare, cyber, and space technologies as areas advancing so rapidly that “the risk of a misunderstanding of capabilities on one side or the other is great.” He warned that without dialogue, both nations could “stumble into conflicts.”
Trade Tensions, TikTok, and Tariffs
The delegation’s visit comes shortly after Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump held their second phone call since Trump’s return to the White House. Trump said he would meet Xi on the sidelines of the APEC summit in South Korea next month and planned to visit China next year, with Xi also expected to travel to the US.
Earlier this year, both countries imposed steep tariffs that rattled global supply chains. A temporary agreement later reduced the levies to 30 percent on US imports from China and 10 percent on Chinese imports from the US, though the deal is set to expire in November.
Smith and his delegation also met Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng to discuss trade, fentanyl, critical minerals, and the future of TikTok. The White House has suggested that a US-based version of the app, powered by a domestic algorithm, could address national security concerns.
Asked about TikTok, Smith said: “My understanding is that I don’t think that has been 100 percent resolved.”
The delegation is also scheduled to meet National People’s Congress Chairman Zhao Leji and Foreign Minister Wang Yi during their trip.
