Senior military officials in the US and China have held talks for the first time since July 2022.

Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Charles Q. Brown and People's Liberation Army General Liu Zhenli spoke on a video call on Thursday. They discussed the importance of working together to "responsibly manage competition."

US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping had agreed last month during talks in California that their militaries need to communicate to avoid ''misunderstandings.'' Biden told Xi that they need to be careful about "veering into conflict." It was the leaders' first face-to-face meeting in about a year.

Their military officers suspended talks after then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi angered Chinese leaders by visiting Taiwan.

US defense officials have repeatedly raised concerns over a lack of communication, saying the Chinese have ignored or denied requests to engage. They worry about what they call "increasingly provocative and risky behavior" and say they have documented more "coercive" and "aggressive" intercepts of US aircraft.

However, the Chinese say it is the Americans who should stop creating tensions in the Taiwan Strait.

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said in a news conference on Thursday that the US should take concrete actions to honor its statement of "not supporting Taiwan independence." He added that the US should "stop arming Taiwan and support China's peaceful reunification."

Chinese leaders have been criticizing the US decision last week to sell military equipment to Taiwan worth 300 million dollars.