US lawmaker warns of military ‘misunderstanding’ risk with China

BEIJING: The leader of a US congressional delegation to China warned on Tuesday of the “risk of a misunderstanding” between the two countries´ militaries as advances in defence technology move at breakneck speed.

Adam Smith, the most senior Democrat on Washington´s Armed Services Committee, told journalists in Beijing that China needs to talk more about its military with other global powers “for basic de-confliction”.

“We´ve seen this with our ships, our planes, their ships, their planes coming entirely too close to one another,” he said at a news conference at the US Embassy.

“We need to have a better conversation about de-conflicting those things.”

The four-person delegation also includes other members of the same Armed Services Committee -- Democrats Ro Khanna and Chrissy Houlahan -- as well as Republican congressman Michael Baumgartner, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

The group on Monday met Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun, with whom they talked about the importance of “working through our differences” and more candid dialogue, according to a statement from the US side.

Dong called on the visitors to “remove disruptive and restrictive factors” between them, China´s Xinhua state news agency reported.

Speaking on Tuesday alongside the other lawmakers and the US Ambassador to China, David Perdue, Smith said: “AI and drone warfare and cyber and space is moving so rapidly and innovation is happening so quickly.