China’s defense minister says a conflict with the US would be an “unbearable disaster” for the world
Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu has warned that a conflict with the US would be an “unbearable disaster” for the world – as Washington accused the People’s Liberation Army of being responsible for a second “unsafe” incident in a week.
Dressed in the uniform of a PLA general, Li Shangfu said at Asia’s top security summit that the world was big enough for China and the US to grow together.
“China and the US have different systems and differ in many other ways,” he said in a speech that marked his first major international address since being named China’s national defense minister in March.
“However, this should not prevent the two sides from seeking common ground and common interests to strengthen bilateral ties and deepen cooperation,” he said.
“There is no denying that a serious conflict or confrontation between China and the US will be an unbearable disaster for the world.”
Speaking at Asia’s top security summit, Li Shangfu, dressed in the uniform of a PLA general, said the world was big enough for China and the US to grow together
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (pictured) in a speech at the Singapore security rally on Saturday rebuked China for refusing to hold military talks, leaving the superpowers deadlocked over their differences
Ties between Washington and Beijing have been strained over a range of issues, including democratically-ruled Taiwan, territorial disputes in the South China Sea, and President Joe Biden’s restrictions on semiconductor chip exports.
In their latest spat, China’s military criticized the United States and Canada for “deliberately provoking risk” after the countries’ navies staged a rare joint sail through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Saturday.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in a speech at the Singapore security rally on Saturday, chided China for refusing to hold military talks, leaving the superpowers deadlocked over their differences.
Li was more reserved in his speech, though he made thinly veiled digs at the United States, accusing “some countries” of intensifying an arms race and deliberately interfering in the internal affairs of others.
“A Cold War mentality is now reviving, greatly increasing security risks,” he said. “Mutual respect must prevail over bullying and hegemony.”
Li, sanctioned by the United States in 2018 over arms purchases from Russia, shook hands with Austin over dinner on Friday, but the two have not had a deeper discussion despite repeated US demands for more military exchanges.
Two Chinese military officers spoke privately on the sidelines of the conference, saying Beijing wanted clear signs from Washington of a less confrontational approach in Asia — including lifting sanctions against Li — before military-military talks could resume.
Meanwhile, a Chinese ship maneuvered in an “unsafe manner” near a US destroyer passing through the sensitive Strait, the US military said Saturday.
It is the second close encounter between US and Chinese military assets in less than 10 days after what the US military said was an “unnecessarily aggressive maneuver” by one of Beijing’s fighters near one of Washington’s surveillance planes. last week.
The Chinese ship “maneuvered in an unsafe manner near Chung-Hoon,” a US destroyer, during Saturday’s transit, the US Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) said in a statement.
Peking’s ship ‘overtook Chung-Hoon on their port side and crossed their bows at 500 feet. Chung-Hoon maintained course and decelerated to 10 (knots) to avoid collision,” the statement said.
It then “crossed Chung-Hoon’s bow a second time starboard to port at 2,000 yards (meters) and remained off Chung-Hoon’s bow,” coming within 500 feet of the closest point, the US military said, adding that the “U.S. military flies, sails, and operates safely and responsibly wherever international law permits.”
American warships regularly pass through the strait. The last joint passage between the US and Canada was in September 2022.
The encounter with the ship in the Taiwan Strait followed what the US military described as a risky maneuver by a Chinese jet that flew “straight ahead and within 400 feet of the nose” of an RC-135 surveillance aircraft over the South on May 26. China Sea flew.