Within the U.S. defense establishment, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of War/Defense (DASW/DASD) for China, Taiwan, and Mongolia is a senior political appointee in the Office of the Under Secretary for Policy, under the Assistant Secretary for Indo‑Pacific Security Affairs. The CTM office is described as the "principal advisor to the Secretary of War on matters related to China, Taiwan, and Mongolia" and as the hub for policy and strategy development, oversight, authorities review, and interagency coordination on those issues. In practice, this official leads U.S. delegations to talks with China and shapes day‑to‑day defense policy and military‑to‑military engagement for this region, but does not exercise direct operational command over U.S. forces.
Across years, the Defense Policy Coordination Talks focus on the overall U.S.–China defense relationship, keeping military‑to‑military communication channels open, and regional and global security issues. For example, the 18th round in 2024 discussed U.S.–PRC defense relations; regional and global security issues; freedom of navigation and China’s behavior in the South China Sea; China’s support for Russia’s defense industry; North Korean (DPRK) provocations; and maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, with strong emphasis on open lines of communication to prevent competition from "veering into conflict". Earlier rounds are similarly described as "frank, in‑depth" discussions of issues affecting the defense relationship and the role of allies and partners in the Indo‑Pacific. For the 19th meeting in December 2025, the official U.S. readout identifies only broad themes: expanding military‑to‑military communications with the PLA to support strategic stability, crisis deconfliction and de‑escalation, and reiterating that U.S. interests in the Indo‑Pacific are significant but "scoped and reasonable"; it does not list specific regional issues or new agenda items.
The Central Military Commission (CMC) Office for International Military Cooperation is a corps‑grade functional department under China’s CMC, the top military decision‑making body. It is explicitly "charged with coordinating the People’s Liberation Army’s relationships with foreign militaries" and evolved from the PLA’s Foreign Affairs Office. Internally, it is organized into regional bureaus (Africa, Eurasia, Americas & Oceania), a Treaty Affairs Bureau, and units such as a Security Cooperation Center and an Arms Control and Compliance Affairs Office, reflecting its main responsibilities: managing military diplomacy (dialogues and high‑level visits), overseeing security cooperation and foreign military assistance, handling arms‑control and treaty‑compliance issues, and supervising China’s network of defense attachés abroad. The official CMC description lists it as one of the CMC’s functional departments responsible for international military cooperation.
Publicly available information does not report any new agreements, binding joint statements, or detailed follow‑up action plans emerging from the December 2025 talks. The official U.S. readout states that Deputy Assistant Secretary Smith reiterated support for a wider range of military‑to‑military communications with the PLA to support strategic stability and crisis deconfliction and noted that the talks followed an earlier meeting between the U.S. Secretary of War/Defense and China’s defense minister, but it does not mention any signed documents or formally agreed new mechanisms.
Official readouts of the Defense Policy Coordination Talks typically name only the heads of delegation: on the U.S. side, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for China, Taiwan and Mongolia; and on the Chinese side, a major general serving as Deputy Director of the CMC Office for International Military Cooperation. Past readouts (e.g., the 16th and 18th rounds) do not list other participants but describe these as working‑level policy talks, implying attendance by supporting civilian defense officials, regional specialists, and military officers from relevant staffs, rather than cabinet‑level leaders. For the 19th round in December 2025, the U.S. readout names only DASW Smith and Major General Ye Jiang and notes separately that the talks followed a prior meeting between the U.S. Secretary of War/Defense and China’s defense minister; there is no indication that those senior leaders personally attended the talks themselves.
The Defense Policy Coordination Talks are intended as an annual, mid‑level dialogue between the U.S. Department of Defense and the Chinese military. U.S. and Chinese statements refer to numbered rounds (e.g., the 16th in 2021, the 18th in 2024, and the 19th in December 2025), indicating they have been held roughly once a year over many years, with some interruptions. Historically, their stated purpose has been to provide a regular channel to discuss the U.S.–China defense relationship, exchange views on regional and global security issues, plan future military‑to‑military engagements, and maintain open lines of communication to manage competition and reduce the risk of miscalculation or conflict. U.S. readouts emphasize that the talks are an "important component" of efforts to responsibly manage competition by maintaining communication, while Chinese government summaries describe them as in‑depth exchanges on bilateral military relations, future exchanges, and issues of common concern.