Biden-Xi talks: Direct military communications between US and Chinese forces to be reopened

Published

2 years ago

November 16, 2023

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Direct lines of communication between American and Chinese military forces are to be reopened for the first time in more than a year, Joe Biden has announced.

Speaking after a meeting with China’s premier Xi Jinping in California, the US president said the restoration of military-to-military communications would help to prevent accidents which could spiral into wider conflicts.

Beijing formally suspended direct military contact with the US in April 2022 in the wake of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island of Taiwan – which China views as a breakaway province.

The move to restart them was one of three agreements President Biden presented to the media following face-to-face conversations with President Xi on Wednesday – their first meeting in a year.

Mr Biden said the pair had agreed on a deal to curb the production of fentanyl – a drug which has led to a huge spike in deaths in US cities – and on the need to discuss the potential risks of artificial intelligence (AI).

He said they had also exchanged views on a number of world issues, including the Israel-Hamas conflict and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as American concerns about China’s ruling communist party – among them allegations of human rights abuses and Beijing’s expansion of maritime operations in the South China Sea.

However, he said he remained committed to the US’s long-standing “One China” policy – the bedrock of Washington-Beijing relations – in which the US maintains formal ties with China and only informal ones with Taiwan.

In his own speech, made to American executives in San Francisco, Mr Xi mirrored his counterpart’s amiable tone, saying China was ready to be a friend and partner to the US.

However, in a veiled threat, he warned Washington not to bet against China, and to stay clear of its internal affairs.

Mr Biden said both he and Mr Xi had agreed to open high-level communications.

“He and I agreed that each one of us can pick up the phone, call directly and we’ll be heard immediately,” he told
reporters after the meeting.

When asked by a reporter at the press conference about whether he “trusted” the Chinese president, Mr Biden replied: “Do I trust [him]?

“Trust but verify, as the saying goes.

“We are in a competitive relationship – China and the US – but my responsibility is to make this rational and manageable so it doesn’t result in conflict.”

Analysis: An uneasy union one misstep from disaster

The Filoli House and Garden on the edge of California’s Silicon Valley is normally a luxury venue for weddings. But on Wednesday it was an attempt to avoid a full-blown divorce between two world powers taking centre stage.

President Biden waited at the pillared entrance to greet his guest, flanked on one side by the Stars and Stripes and on the other, the Five-star Red Flag. President Xi pulled up in a black bulletproof sedan. There was the hint of a smile from President Biden and a handshake for the man he calls a dictator.

The White House had been keeping expectations for the meeting limited, stating that this summit was about reopening channels of communication and preventing the relationship spiralling into conflict.

“I think it’s paramount that you and I understand each other clearly, leader to leader,” President Biden said across the boardroom table. “We have to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict.” President Xi suggested he, too, wanted stability. “This planet is big enough for the two countries to succeed,” he said.

Over the course of four hours – including a break for a lunch of herbed ricotta ravioli and artichoke chips – the leaders thrashed out a whole host of issues.
On many subjects there is little consensus – from wars in Ukraine and Gaza, to artificial intelligence.

There were some agreements made, on military-to-military communications and efforts to curb the production of fentanyl, the drug which kills more 18-49 year olds in American than anything else.

After talks had concluded, Presidents Biden and Xi walked around the grand grounds of Filoli House, step in step. The pair discussed their respective wives and what it is like to live in the vice president’s residence (Biden) and Shanghai (Xi).

There was even a thumbs up to photographers from President Biden and a promise that the leaders would keep talking over the phone. But with so many major issues unresolved, and tension still apparent, there is a sense that this uneasy union is one misstep from tumbling into disaster.

The US president had earlier welcomed the Chinese leader at the Filoli estate, a country house and gardens about 30 miles (48 km) south of San Francisco, ahead of a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

The meeting came amid increasingly strained tensions between the two global powers.

Mr Biden had earlier billed the meeting as a chance for Washington and Beijing to get back “on a normal course” again, and that the two countries had to make sure that the rivalry between them did “not veer into conflict”.

Since they last met in November 2022, fraught relations have been further strained by the US downing of a Chinese ‘spy’ balloon that flew over America and by differences on the self-ruled island of Taiwan, as well as China’s hacking of a Biden official’s emails.

Mr Xi said a lot had happened since their last meeting, telling the media: “The world has emerged from the COVID pandemic, but is still under its tremendous impacts. The global economy is recovering, but its momentum remains sluggish.”

He said prior to the meeting that he wanted assurances from Mr Biden that the US would not support Taiwan independence, start a new Cold War, or suppress China’s economic growth.

Mr Xi said he was also keen to show America that China is still a good place to invest.

After the meeting, Mr Biden wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “I value the conversation I had today with President Xi because I think it’s paramount that we understand each other clearly, leader to leader.

“There are critical global challenges that demand our joint leadership. And today, we made real progress.”

The White House later said in a readout of their conversation that the talks had been “candid and constructive” and that they had “made progress on a number of key issues”.

“The two leaders welcomed the resumption of high-level military-to-military communication, as well as the US-China Defence Policy Coordination Talks and the US-China Military Maritime Consultative Agreement meetings,” the White House said.

“Both sides are also resuming telephone conversations between theatre commanders.”

US

Deadly Texas floods: What were the warnings?

Published

2 hours ago

July 6, 2025

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Deadly Texas floods: What were the warnings?

Questions have been raised over extreme weather warnings in Texas, after heavy rain caused fatal flash floods along the Guadalupe River.

At least 51 people have died from the flooding in Texas, with an unknown number of people – including 27 girls from Camp Mystic in Kerr County – still missing.

As rescue teams continue to search for the missing, local and federal officials have come under fire over their flood preparations and about why those along the river weren’t warned of the risks sooner.

What happened?

As much as 10ins (25cm) of heavy rain fell in just a few hours overnight in central Kerr County on Friday, causing the banks of the Guadalupe River to burst at around 4am local time.

Homes and vehicles were swept away by the downpour – equivalent to months’ worth of rain – while 27 girls staying at Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along the river, went missing when the fast-rising floodwaters hit.

The death toll stands at:
• At least 43 people, including 15 children and 28 adults, in Kerr County,
• One person in Kendall County,
• At least four people in Travis County,
• At least two in Burnet County,
• And one person in the city of San Angelo.

What flood warnings were there?

Private forecasting company AccuWeather said it and the National Weather Service (NWS) sent warnings about potential flash flooding hours before it began, urging people to move to higher ground and evacuate flood-prone areas.

The NWS also issued flash flood emergencies – a rare alert notifying of imminent danger – at 4.23am local time.

In a statement, AccuWeather said that “these warnings should have provided officials with ample time to evacuate camps such as Camp Mystic and get people to safety”.

It also called Texas Hill County one of the most flash-flood-prone areas of the US because of its terrain and many water crossings.

However, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management Nim Kidd said that one NWS forecast earlier in the week had called for up to six inches of rain.

“It did not predict the amount of rain that we saw,” he said.

Were they enough?

Locals have told various news agencies that while there had been phone alerts late into the night, forecasts headed into Friday evening did not predict the extreme conditions.

Christopher Flowers, who was staying at a friend’s house along the river when the flooding started, told the Reuters news agency: “What they need is some kind of external system, like a tornado warning that tells people to get out now.”

Kerrville resident Darryl Huffman told Sky’s US partner network NBC News that he did not believe the storm would pose such danger before its arrival.

“I looked out the window and it was barely sprinkling outside,” he said, “so I had no indication that the river was going to be right outside my driveway”.

Jonathan Porter, chief meteorologist at AccuWeather, said it appeared evacuations and other proactive measures could have been undertaken to reduce the risk of fatalities.

He said in a statement: “People, businesses, and governments should take action based on Flash Flood Warnings that are issued, regardless of the rainfall amounts that have occurred or are forecast.”

Separately, the NWS’s union told NBC News the agency’s offices in central Texas were well-staffed and had issued timely warnings, “giving preliminary lead times of more than three hours before warning criteria were met”.

What have officials said?

Local and federal officials have said they had not expected such an intense downpour of rain and insisted that no one saw the flood potential coming.

Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, the county’s top elected official, said: “We know we get rain. We know the river rises. But nobody saw this coming.”

“We have floods all the time. This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States,” he said, adding: “We had no reason to believe this was going to be anything like what’s happened here. None whatsoever.”

Mr Kelly separately noted that while the county considered a flood warning system along the river that would have functioned like a tornado warning siren about six or seven years ago, “the public reeled at the cost”.

At a news conference with the Texas governor, Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem said on Saturday that “everybody knows that the weather is extremely difficult to predict” before saying “we have all wanted more time and more warning and more alerts and more notification” from the NWS.

She said a “moderate” flood watch issued on Thursday by the NWS had not accurately predicted the extreme rainfall and said the Trump administration was working to upgrade their technology.

Will forecasting get better?

While Ms Noem said technology for the NWS would be upgraded, the White House has previously been criticised after Donald Trump‘s administration ordered 800 job cuts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – the parent organisation of the NWS.

A 30% cut to its budget is also in the pipeline, subject to approval by Congress.

Professor Costa Samaras, who worked on energy policy at the White House under President Joe Biden, said NOAA had been in the middle of developing new flood maps for neighbourhoods and that cuts to NOAA were “devastating”.

US

At least 51 people killed in Texas flooding as authorities face scrutiny over response

Published

11 hours ago

July 6, 2025

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At least 51 people killed in Texas flooding as authorities face scrutiny over response

At least 51 people have died after heavy rain caused flash flooding, with water bursting from the banks of the Guadalupe River in Texas.

The overflowing water began sweeping into Kerr County and other areas around 4am local time on Friday, killing at least 43 people in the county.

This includes at least 15 children and 28 adults, with five children and 12 adults pending identification, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said at a news conference.

In nearby Kendall County, one person has died. At least four people were killed in Travis County, while at least two people died in Burnet County. Another person has died in the city of San Angelo in Tom Green County.

An unknown number of people remain missing, including 27 girls from Camp Mystic in Kerr County, a Christian summer camp along the Guadalupe River.

Rescuers have already saved hundreds of people and would work around the clock to find those still unaccounted for, Texas governor Greg Abbott said.

But as rescue teams are searching for the missing, Texas officials are facing scrutiny over their preparations and why residents and summer camps for children that are dotted along the river were not alerted sooner or told to evacuate.

AccuWeather said the private forecasting company and the National Weather Service (NWS) sent warnings about potential flash flooding hours before the devastation, urging people to move to higher ground and evacuate flood-prone areas.

The NWS later issued flash flood emergencies – a rare alert notifying of imminent danger.

“These warnings should have provided officials with ample time to evacuate camps such as Camp Mystic and get people to safety,” AccuWeather said in a statement that called Texas Hill County one of the most flash-flood-prone areas of the US because of its terrain and many water crossings.

But one NWS forecast earlier in the week had called for up to six inches of rain, said Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management.”It did not predict the amount of rain that we saw,” he said.

Officials said they had not expected such an intense downpour of rain, equivalent to months’ worth in a few short hours, insisting that no one saw the flood potential coming.

One river near Camp Mystic rose 22ft in two hours, according to Bob Fogarty, meteorologist with the NWS’s Austin/San Antonio office. The gauge failed after recording a level of 29.5ft.

“People, businesses, and governments should take action based on Flash Flood Warnings that are issued, regardless of the rainfall amounts that have occurred or are forecast,” Jonathan Porter, chief meteorologist at AccuWeather, said in a statement.

“We know we get rain. We know the river rises,” said Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, the county’s top elected official. “But nobody saw this coming.”

Judge Kelly said the county considered a flood warning system along the Guadalupe River that would have functioned like a tornado warning siren about six or seven years ago, before he was elected, but that the idea never got off the ground because “the public reeled at the cost”.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was asked during a news conference on Saturday whether the flash flood warnings came through quickly enough: “We know that everyone wants more warning time, and that is why we are working to upgrade the technologies that have been neglected for far too long.”

Presidential cuts to climate and weather organisations have also been criticised in the wake of the floods after Donald Trump‘s administration ordered 800 job cuts at the science and climate organisation NOAA, the parent organisation of the NWS, which predicts and warns about extreme weather like the Texas floods.

A 30% cut to its budget is also in the pipeline, subject to approval by Congress.

“Accurate weather forecasts matter. FEMA and NOAA matter. Because little girls’ lives matter,” said Frank Figliuzzi, a national security and intelligence analyst at Sky’s US partner organisation NBC News.

US

Elon Musk says he’s created his own political party – the ‘America Party’

Published

21 hours ago

July 5, 2025

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Elon Musk says he's created his own political party - the 'America Party'

Elon Musk says he has created a new political party – the America Party –
after asking his followers if he should do so in an online poll.

It follows his public falling out with Republican President Donald Trump.

On Friday, the billionaire had asked his followers on X whether a new US political party should be created.

On Saturday evening he wrote on the same platform: “By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it!

“When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy.

“Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.”

The world’s richest man made the announcement just one day after President Trump signed a tax-cut and spending bill into law on Friday, which Musk had fiercely opposed.

Musk had previously said we would form and fund a new political party to unseat lawmakers who supported the bill.

From bromance to bust-up

The Tesla boss backed Trump’s election campaign with more than a quarter of a billion dollars, later rewarded with a high profile role running the newly created department of government efficiency (DOGE).

But observers of the two men, both with huge wealth and reputations, wondered how long the bromance would last.

In May Musk left the role, still on good terms with Trump but criticising key parts of his legislative agenda.

After that, the attacks ramped up, with Musk slamming the sweeping tax and spending bill as a “disgusting abomination” and Trump hitting back in a barbed tit-for-tat.

Trump earlier this week threatened to cut off the billion-dollar federal subsidies that flow to Musk’s companies, and said he would even consider deporting him.