The United States should ease off military deployments close to China in an act of "good faith" if high-level defense talks between the two countries are to resume, former Chinese ambassador to the U.S., Cui Tiankai, said in Singapore on Sunday.

Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue meeting on security, Cui Tiankai also said that although the two militaries still had channels of communication, he questioned whether there was enough political will to prevent conflicts.