Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, Ma Xiaotian, and U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Michele Flournoy, led their respective delegations at the 12th round of China-U.S. defense consultation talks in Beijing on December 7.

The two sides discussed bilateral military relations, U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, tension on the Korean Peninsula and the South China Sea, instability in the Middle East and North Africa, and the security situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

The consultations marked the first engagement between defense authorities of both countries since the United States announced in September that its latest, $5.85-billion, arms deal with Taiwan.

China vehemently opposed the sale, saying it created severe obstacles for normal military-to-military exchanges. China-U.S. defense consultations began in 1997.