Just days before the US presidential election and amid rumours that the Trump administration might launch an attack against Chinese-claimed islands in the South China Sea, Chinese and American defence officials discussed crisis prevention and management on Wednesday and Thursday via teleconference for the first meeting of the Crisis Communications Working Group. Dr Collin Koh, a Research Fellow from the RSIS, said the new working group reflected efforts by the two countries to prevent their deteriorating relations from spilling over into the military domain.