Yesterday (June 4), Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu delivered a keynote speech at the final day of the Shangri-La Dialogue. A day earlier, also speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin strongly criticized China.
Beijing strikes back
In his first speech to an international audience since taking office in March, Minister Lee said the Asia-Pacific region was facing unprecedented security challenges. He took aim at the US, saying “some countries” were imposing their own rules on others through the “international rules-based order,” according to The Straits Times.
Minister Li warned that moves to promote the establishment of military alliances such as NATO in the Asia-Pacific region would increase the risk of conflict and confrontation. Responding to the US accusations related to the near collision of warships of the two countries in the Taiwan Strait on June 3, Mr. Li said Beijing had no problem with "innocent passage" activities, but would prevent the use of freedom of navigation patrols to exercise hegemony and provocation.
Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu speaks at the Shangri-La Dialogue
According to Mr. Ly, thanks to the efforts of China and countries in the region, the situation in the East Sea is generally stable, but some foreign countries are exercising hegemony in the name of freedom of navigation, wanting to stir up the sea for their own gain. He pledged to coordinate with countries in the region to fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), promote negotiations on the Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) to turn the region into a sea of "peace, friendship and cooperation".
Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said yesterday that the US remains concerned about the increasingly risky and coercive actions of the Chinese military in the region, AFP reported. Before the June 3 incident, the US military also criticized the dangerous actions of Chinese fighter jets against a US reconnaissance aircraft in the East Sea on May 26.
Call to avoid conflict
In his speech, Mr. Li used a softer tone when talking about the US-China relationship. The minister assessed that the relationship between the two countries was at a "record low" and warned that "a serious conflict or confrontation between China and the US would be an unbearable disaster for the world." He called on the US to show sincerity and take concrete actions to stabilize and prevent the bilateral relationship from deteriorating further.
Minister Li said China was willing to communicate with the US at both the government and military levels, but that communication would be based on principles. "We hope that exchanges and cooperation will be based on mutual respect. That is a very basic principle," Li said.
Earlier, the US military said China had rejected an offer to hold a dialogue between the two defense ministers on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue. A senior US defense official said yesterday that Washington continued to propose lower-level dialogue but Beijing did not respond. A member of the Chinese delegation told AFP that the US had to lift sanctions on Minister Li as a precondition.
Speaking at a discussion session yesterday afternoon, Singaporean Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen affirmed that the US-China relationship is central to the stability of Asia and the Indo-Pacific, and called for maintaining both formal and informal communication channels to reduce tensions and avoid conflicts when unforeseen incidents occur.
"For Asia, the priority of government leaders must be to avoid a conflict there, at least for the next decade. Simultaneous conflicts in Europe and Asia would be a disaster for a generation," Mr. Ng Eng Hen declared.
US Assistant Secretary of State visits China
Reuters reported that US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink arrived in Beijing yesterday in an effort to boost communication, amid tense US-China relations. Accompanying Mr. Kritenbrink was Ms. Sarah Beran, a senior official in charge of China and Taiwan on the White House National Security Council.
The US delegation will officially work with Chinese officials today (June 5) on "key issues in the bilateral relationship", the US State Department said.
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