Global Courant
SINGAPORE (AP) — China’s defense minister defended a warship sailing in the path of a US destroyer and a Canadian frigate passing through the Taiwan Strait. navigation” patrols are a provocation for China.
In his first international public address since becoming defense minister in March, General Li Shangfu told the Shangri-La Dialogue that China has no problem with “innocent passage” but that “we must prevent any attempts that try to take advantage of that freedom of navigation (patrols), that innocent passage, to exercise hegemony of navigation.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told the same forum on Saturday that Washington would not “flinch from harassment or coercion” from China and would continue to regularly sail through the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea and fly over the South China Sea to emphasize that international waters, countering Beijing’s sweeping territorial claims.
That same day, a US guided-missile destroyer and a Canadian frigate were intercepted by a Chinese warship while crossing the strait between the self-governing island of Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, and mainland China. The Chinese ship overtook the American ship and then veered 500 feet (about 140 meters) over the bow in an “unsafe manner,” the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said.
In addition, the US has said a Chinese J-16 fighter jet late last month “executed an unnecessarily aggressive maneuver” while intercepting a US Air Force reconnaissance aircraft over the South China Sea, flying directly in front of the aircraft’s nose.
That and previous incidents have raised concerns about a possible accident that could lead to an escalation between the two nations at a time when tensions are already high.
Li suggested that the US and its allies created the danger and should instead focus on “taking good care of your own territorial airspace and waters”.
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“The best way is for the countries, especially countries’ naval vessels and fighter jets, not to carry out closure actions around the territory of other countries,” he said through an interpreter. “What’s the point of going there? In China we always say: ‘Mind your own business.’”
In an extended speech, Li reiterated many of Beijing’s well-known positions, including its claim to Taiwan, calling it “the core of our core interests.”
He accused the US and others of “interfering in China’s internal affairs” by supplying Taiwan with defense support and trainingand conducting high-level diplomatic visits.
“China remains committed to the path of peaceful development, but we will never hesitate to defend our legitimate rights and interests, let alone sacrifice the country’s core interests,” he said.
“As the lyrics of a well-known Chinese song say: ‘When friends visit us, we welcome them with good wine. If jackals or wolves come, we will meet them with shotguns.’”
In his speech the previous day, Austin broadly outlined the American vision for a “free, open, and secure Indo-Pacific within a world of rules and rights.”
To pursue this, Austin said the US was stepping up planning, coordination and training with “friends from the East China Sea to the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean” with shared goals “to deter aggression and enforce the rules and standards that promote prosperity and prevent conflict.”
Li scoffed at the idea, saying, “Some countries take a selective approach to rules and international laws.”
“It likes to force its own rules on others,” he said. “The so-called ‘rules-based international order’ never tells you what the rules are and who made those rules.”
Instead, he said, “we practice multilateralism and strive for win-win cooperation.”
Li is under US sanctions that are part of a broad package of measures against Russia – but predating the invasion of Ukraine – imposed in 2018 over Li’s involvement in China’s purchase of fighter jets and anti-aircraft missiles from Moscow.
The sanctions, which broadly prevent Li from doing business in the United States, have not prevented him from holding official talks, US defense officials have said.
Still, he declined Austin’s invitation to talk on the sidelines of the conference, though the two shook hands before sitting together on opposite sides of the same table as the forum opened on Friday.
Austin said that wasn’t enough.
“A cordial handshake over dinner is no substitute for a substantive engagement,” said Austin.
The US has noted that since 2021 – long before Li became defense minister – China has refused or failed to respond to more than a dozen requests from the US Department of Defense to speak with senior leaders, as well as multiple requests for ongoing dialogues and work – level assignments.
Li said that “China is open to communication between our two countries and also between our two armies,” but without mentioning the sanctions, said exchanges should be “based on mutual respect.”
“That’s a very fundamental principle,” he said. “If we don’t even have mutual respect, our communication won’t be productive.”
He said he recognized that any “serious conflict or confrontation between China and the US will be an unbearable disaster for the world”, and that the two countries must find ways to improve relations, saying they will “in a way low point”.
“History has proven time and time again that both China and the United States will gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation,” he said.
“China is trying to develop a new type of relationship between major countries and the United States. As for the US, it must act with sincerity, match its words with deeds, and take concrete measures with China to stabilize relations and prevent further deterioration, said Li.
