CCP’s Military Commanders Refused Communication With U.S. Admiral

Two PLA combatant commanders are not responding to a request for communication from Admiral John C. Aquilino, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific, according to a report published on March 16. Admiral Aquilino said that the two Chinese military commanders refused a request to consult with the Pentagon’s Commander of Indo-Pacific amid growing military tensions between the two nations. This comes after regional defense chiefs and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin who has urged him to engage with the PLA’s commanders. It is reported that when Austin met with CCP’s defense minister General Wei Fenghe in November 2022, both sides agreed that General Aquilino should communicate with the commander of PLA’s operational commanders for the southern and eastern theater military commands.

The two PLA combatant commanders are Lin Xiangyang, PLA’s operational commander of the eastern theater military command, a theater that includes forces involved in the attack on Taiwan and more than 1,000 strike missiles. Wang Xiubin, PLA’s operational commander of the southern theater military command, oversees all military forces around the South China Sea. The CCP has not responded to any of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s requests to establish direct communication channels between the two sides, Adm. John Aquilino said on Thursday.

Spokespeople for the Chinese embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.