Biden government wants to establish a 'red phone' with China

China tightens controls on tech companies 0:58

Washington (CNN) -

The Biden administration is examining the possibility of establishing an emergency hotline with the Chinese government similar to the so-called "hotline" established between the US and the Soviet Union during the Cold War, which allowed the direct communication with the Kremlin as a way to avoid nuclear war.

While the concept is still in its infancy and has yet to be formally discussed with the Chinese, the Biden administration wants to develop a rapid communication tool that could be incorporated into a broader effort to reduce the risk of conflict between the United States and China, according to to a US official and another source familiar with early conversations about the device.

A direct line to Beijing would allow President Joe Biden, or senior officials on his national security team, to immediately send phone calls or encrypted messages to President Xi Jinping or those around him, according to the two sources.

For example, urgent information about sudden military movements or warning messages sent about cyberattacks could be shared.

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How did the idea of ​​the 'red telephone' with China come about?

The idea of ​​establishing a direct line to Beijing dates back at least to the Obama administration, although the concept was not codified in a classified national security memo until the final year of the Trump administration, according to a source familiar with the memo.

Officials in the Biden administration have pursued the idea, the sources said, but numerous details remain to be worked out, including whether the Chinese would even agree to use the device.

There have long been problems getting quick answers from Beijing when it comes to urgent matters, current and former US officials told CNN.

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The top-down nature of the Chinese political system means that most contact beyond commitment at the leader level is disincentive.

A China-like hotline already exists at the Pentagon and is supposed to be used exclusively for military affairs, but is rarely used.

China tightens controls on tech companies 0:58

"We have a hotline. It's known that the couple of times we used it, it just rang in an empty room for hours on end," said Kurt Campbell, senior Indo-Pacific coordinator for the National Security Council, earlier this year. during a conversation about diplomacy between the United States and China and Taiwan.

Problems with the current system, along with China's increasingly offensive military, have sparked growing concern among U.S. Homeland Security officials about the potential for a miscalculation with China and a sense that it should be done. more to increase communication.

"There is a worrying shortage of incident management tools in the relationship between the United States and China. It is quite urgent that the United States government look for lines of communication that allow it to respond to a crisis or prevent a crisis. We need an operator of the 911 so to speak, "said Danny Russel, a former deputy secretary of the State Department. Russel added that it is imperative to also consider tools "that can be integrated into a broader crisis communication strategy, with the focus on broad risk reduction."

A senior administration official declined to discuss the device when asked about it, but said that "generally speaking, of course, we have an interest in ensuring that competition with China is managed responsibly. We have made it clear that This relationship will be defined by competition and we welcome that stiff competition, but we will also continue to work to ensure that this competition does not turn into conflict. "

Finalizing the technical details

Officials from the State Department and the National Security Council are still working on how the device would technically work, sources told CNN.

The next step would be to develop the overall concept and incorporate it into the Biden administration's engagement plan with China.

So the device would need approval from the White House and Chinese officials before being implemented.

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While the "hotline" between the United States and Russia was seen as a useful tool that increased communication during the Cold War, its effectiveness is questionable.

For example, the Obama administration used the Kremlin hotline to warn Russia not to interfere in the 2016 US elections, a warning that went unheeded.

The effectiveness of a new hotline with China would largely depend on Beijing's commitment to use it and place it in a position where Xi would have regular access to it.

"It would be beneficial to establish this kind of tool for high-level messaging with China on strategic cyber concerns, but you need to make sure you are connected to the right place in the chain to connect with leadership effortlessly and quickly," he said.

Chris Painter, former coordinator of the Department of State for cyber affairs during the presidency of Barack Obama.

"You may not get the information you want, but it could be used to send messages back and forth to alert people."

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