SINGAPORE, June 11 (Reuters) – The United States will do its part to deal with tensions with China and prevent conflict, while Beijing is becoming increasingly aggressive in the Asian region, including near Taiwan. said U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Saturday.
China-US relations have been strained in recent months, with the world’s two largest economies clashing over everything from Taiwan and China’s human rights record to its military activity at sea. of South China.
In a meeting between Austin and Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe on Friday, both sides reiterated that they want to better manage their relationship, although there were no indications of any progress in resolving the differences. Read more
Register now for FREE and unlimited access to Reuters.com
Sign up
Addressing the Shangri-La dialogue, Asia’s main security meeting, Austin said the United States will continue to side with its allies, including Taiwan.
“This is especially important as the People’s Republic of China (PRC) takes a more coercive and aggressive approach to its land claims,” he said.
China claims that Taiwan’s self-government is its own and has pledged to take it by force if necessary.
Austin said there had been an “alarming” increase in the number of unsafe and unprofessional encounters between Chinese planes and ships with those in other countries.
A Chinese fighter jet dangerously intercepted an Australian military surveillance aircraft in the South China Sea region in May, and the Canadian military has accused Chinese warplanes of harassing their patrol planes while controlling evasions. of North Korean sanctions.
Taiwan has complained for years about the Chinese air force’s repeated missions to its air defense identification zone, which is not a territorial airspace but a wider area that it monitors for threats. Austin said those raids had increased in recent months.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry on Friday thanked the United States for its support and denounced China’s “absurd” claims to sovereignty.
Austin said U.S. policy in Taiwan was to remain opposed to any unilateral changes to the status quo.
“Our policy has not changed. But unfortunately this does not seem to be true for the PRC,” Austin said.
However, he added: “We will do our part to manage these tensions responsibly, to prevent conflicts and to seek peace and prosperity.”
On Saturday, Lieutenant General Zhang Zhenzhong, deputy chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Central Military Commission of China, called Austin’s speech a “confrontation.”
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin testifies before the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Defense Subcommittee in Washington, D.C., on May 3, 2022. Win McNamee / Pool via REUTERS / File Photo
“There were many unfounded accusations against China; we expressed our strong dissatisfaction and strong opposition to these false accusations,” Zhang said. “The United States is trying to form a small circle in the Asia-Pacific region by making rope in some countries to incite against other countries.”
Austin’s meeting with Wei was largely focused on Taiwan.
“Maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is not just in the interest of the United States. It is a matter of international concern,” Austin said.
NO NATO ASIAN
In a speech focusing on the U.S. commitment to the region, Austin said the United States would maintain its presence in Asia, but Washington understood the need to prevent conflict.
“We are not looking for confrontations or conflicts. And we are not looking for a new Cold War, an Asian NATO or a region divided into hostile blocs,” he said.
Austin also referred to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has been a priority in Washington and other Western capitals for the past three months.
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is what happens when the oppressors break the rules that protect us all,” Austin said. “It’s a foretaste of a possible world of chaos and unrest in which none of us would want to live.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was scheduled to address the Shangri-La dialogue in a virtual session later on Saturday.
Earlier this year, Washington said China seemed ready to help Russia in its war against Ukraine.
But since then, U.S. officials have said that while they remain wary of China’s support for Russia in general, the military and economic support they were concerned for has not come, at least for now.
In a separate speech on Saturday, Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said military cooperation between China and Russia has sharpened security concerns in the region. Read more
“Joint military operations between these two powerful military powers will no doubt increase concern among other countries,” he said.
(This story corrects the speaker’s last name in paragraph 15.)
Register now for FREE and unlimited access to Reuters.com
Sign up
Report by Idrees Ali and Lin Chen; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Gerry Doyle
Our standards: Thomson Reuters’ principles of trust.