The mounting tensions between East and West — China and the U.S. — are skyrocketing on myriad fronts, among them: trade issues, China’s aggression in the South China Sea, human rights over Chinese Muslims and handling of U.S. race riots, Hong Kong’s waning independence. And all that is playing out against the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, which exploded out from a wet market in Wuhan, China, and is now ravaging the U.S. and world.

So, for 24 hours on Wednesday, foreign-diplomacy eyes were on Honolulu, where a high-powered meeting was held between U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi. The highly secretive meeting at Hickam Air Force Base was a source of great curiosity, given the contentious yet highly consequential relationship between the world’s top two economies.

After the meeting, the U.S. State Department said the U.S. “stressed important American interests and the need for fully reciprocal dealings between the two nations across commercial, security, and diplomatic interactions.” Pompeo, the statement said, “also stressed the need for full transparency and information sharing to combat the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and prevent future outbreaks.”

For its part, China said that Yang held a “constructive” dialogue with Pompeo in Hawaii, and the two sides have agreed to continue engagement and communication.

Whichever side asked for this in-person meeting — even that was a point of contention — it’s evident that both saw an opportunity for chalking up political points for their home countries. As most analysts would note, in a volatile world, it doesn’t take much to set off geopolitical powder kegs. So every little symbolic meeting is necessary for diplomacy. And even if it’s only for a day, in the middle of the Pacific in Hawaii, we have to welcome the dialogue, and encourage more.