In his first worldwide public deal with since turning into defence minister in March, General Li Shangfu advised the Shangri-La Dialogue on Sunday that China would not have any issues with “innocent passage” however that “we must prevent attempts that try to use those freedom of navigation (patrols), that innocent passage, to exercise hegemony of navigation”.
That identical day, a US guided-missile destroyer and a Canadian frigate have been intercepted by a Chinese warship as they transited the strait between the self-governed island of Taiwan, which China claims as its personal territory, and mainland China.
The Chinese vessel overtook the American ship after which veered throughout its bow at a distance of about 140 metres in an “unsafe manner”, in accordance with the US Indo-Pacific Command.
Additionally, the US has mentioned a Chinese J-16 fighter jet late final month “performed an unnecessarily aggressive manoeuvre” whereas intercepting a US Air Force reconnaissance plane over the South China Sea, flying instantly in entrance of the airplane’s nostril.
Those and former incidents have raised issues of a attainable accident occurring that might result in an escalation between the 2 nations at a time when tensions are already excessive.
Li instructed the US and its allies had created the hazard, and will as an alternative concentrate on taking “good care of your own territorial airspace and waters”.
“The best way is for the countries, especially the naval vessels and fighter jets of countries, not to do closing actions around other countries’ territories,” he mentioned by way of an interpreter. “What’s the point of going there? In China we always say, ‘Mind your own business’.”
In a wide-ranging speech, Li reiterated a lot of Beijing’s well-known positions, together with its declare on Taiwan, calling it “the core of our core interests”.
He accused the US and others of “meddling in China’s internal affairs” by offering Taiwan with defence assist and coaching, and conducting high-level diplomatic visits.
“China stays committed to the path of peaceful development, but we will never hesitate to defend our legitimate rights and interests, let alone sacrifice the nation’s core interests,” he mentioned.
“As the lyrics of a well-known Chinese song go: ‘When friends visit us, we welcome them with fine wine. When jackals or wolves come, we will face them with shotguns’.”
In his speech yesterday, Austin broadly outlined the US imaginative and prescient for a “free, open, and secure Indo-Pacific within a world of rules and rights”.
In the pursuit of such, Austin mentioned the US was stepping up planning, coordination and coaching with “friends from the East China Sea to the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean” with shared targets “to deter aggression and to deepen the rules and norms that promote prosperity and prevent conflict”.
Li scoffed on the notion, saying “some country takes a selective approach to rules and international laws”.
“It likes forcing its own rules on others,” he mentioned.
“Its so-called ‘rules-based international order’ never tells you what the rules are and who made these rules.”
By distinction, he mentioned, “we practise multilateralism and pursue win-win cooperation”.
Li is underneath American sanctions which are a part of a broad package deal of measures towards Russia — however predate its invasion of Ukraine — that have been imposed in 2018 over Li’s involvement in China’s buy of fight plane and anti-aircraft missiles from Moscow.
The sanctions, which broadly stop Li from doing business within the US, don’t stop him from holding official talks, American defence officers have mentioned.
Still, he refused Austin’s invitation to speak on the sidelines of the convention, although the 2 did shake arms earlier than sitting down at reverse sides of the identical desk collectively because the discussion board opened Friday.
Austin mentioned that was not sufficient.
“A cordial handshake over dinner is no substitute for a substantive engagement,” Austin mentioned.
The US has famous that since 2021 — properly earlier than Li turned defence minister — China has declined or failed to answer greater than a dozen requests from the US Defence Department to speak with senior leaders, in addition to a number of requests for standing dialogues and working-level engagements.
Li mentioned that “China is open to communications between our two countries and also between our two militaries”, however with out mentioning the sanctions, mentioned exchanges needed to be “based on mutual respect”.
“That is a very fundamental principle,” he mentioned.
“If we do not even have mutual respect, than our communications will not be productive.”
He mentioned that he recognised that any “severe conflict or confrontation between China and the US will be an unbearable disaster for the world” and that the 2 nations want to seek out methods to enhance relations, saying they have been “at a record low”.
Chinese fighter jet confronts US Navy airplane over disputed sea
“History has proven time and again that both China and the United States will benefit from cooperation and lose from confrontation,” he mentioned.
“China seeks to develop a new type of major-country relationship with the United States. As for the US side, it needs to act with sincerity, match its words with deeds, and take concrete actions together with China to stabilise the relations and prevent further deterioration,” Li mentioned.
Source: www.9news.com.au
