A top military officer from the United States held a virtual meeting with his Chinese counterpart in the first such conversation in more than a year.

Beijing stopped such high-level talks after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August 2022.

Meanwhile US officials have said that even with some restoration of military communications, it is likely to take some time to develop a functional dialogue between the two sides who remain at odds over a range of issues from Taiwan to the South China Sea and trade.

Recall US President Joe Biden met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in California in November with the two men agreeing to restore military-to-military communications as part of an effort to ease tensions.