Gen. C.Q. Brown, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke to his Chinese counterpart Gen. Liu Zhenli on Thursday morning, ending a nearly year-and-a-half impasse between the two militaries, the Pentagon announced.

Brown is the first senior U.S. military official to speak with his Chinese counterpart since the two countries’ leaders agreed in November to resume military communications after China froze all talks in retaliation for then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August 2022.