TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
China warns against ‘NATO- like' pacts in Asia-Pacific
Li warned these alliances would "plunge the Asia-Pacific into a whirlpool of disputes and conflicts".
Change Size
C
hina's defense minister warned on Sunday against establishing NATO-like military alliances in the Asia-Pacific, saying they would plunge the region into a "whirlpool" of conflict.
Li Shangfu's comments came a day after United States and Chinese military vessels sailed close to each other in the flashpoint Taiwan Strait, an incident that provoked anger from both sides.
"Attempts to push for NATO-like [alliances] in the Asia-Pacific are a way of kidnapping regional countries and exaggerating conflicts and confrontations," Li told a security conference in Singapore also attended by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Li warned these alliances would "plunge the Asia-Pacific into a whirlpool of disputes and conflicts".
Li's comments echoed long-held Chinese criticism of the US' efforts to shore up alliances in the region and counter China's rise.
The US is a member of AUKUS, which groups it with Australia and the United Kingdom.
Washington is also a member of the QUAD group, which includes Australia, India and Japan.
"Today's Asia-Pacific needs open and inclusive cooperation, not buddying up into small cliques," Li said at the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit.
Li sought to paint the US as the trigger of regional instability, and China as seeking to ease tensions.
"It cannot be denied if a fierce conflict or confrontation occurred between China and the United States, it would bring unbearable pain for the world," he said.
Miscalculations
On Saturday, Austin called for top-level defense talks with Beijing to prevent miscalculations.
"The more that we talk, the more that we can avoid the misunderstandings and miscalculations that could lead to crisis or conflict," Austin said.
Also on Saturday, the US deployed a destroyer from its Seventh Fleet along with a Canadian naval vessel through the Taiwan Strait.
China responded by sending one of its naval ships close to the US destroyer, the USS Chung-Hoon, according to the Pentagon.
The strait is one of the world's most tense potential military flashpoints.
China claims Taiwan as its territory, vowing to take it one day, by force if necessary, and has in recent years ramped up military and political pressure on the island.
Austin on Sunday described the incident as "extremely dangerous", saying the Chinese vessel crossed "probably 150 feet [46 meters]" in front of the Chung-Hoon.
"I call upon the [Chinese] leadership to really do the right things to rein in that kind of conduct, because I think accidents can happen that could cause things to spiral out of control," Austin told reporters in Singapore.
Saturday's Taiwan Strait encounter followed what the US military said was an "unnecessarily aggressive maneuver" by one of Beijing's fighters near a US surveillance plane in the South China Sea last week.
Li told the Singapore audience on Sunday the onus was on the US to pull its military presence away from areas near China.
"Our Chinese military aircraft and warships won't ever go near the airspace and territorial waters of other countries to engage in so-called navigational hegemony," Li said.
"The best thing would be if all countries, and especially their warplanes and warships, refrained from wandering through other country’s territorial airspace and waters. What are you hanging around here for?"
Austin and Li shook hands and spoke briefly at the Singapore event's opening dinner on Friday, but there was no substantive exchange.
The US had invited Li to meet with Austin on the sidelines of the conference, but China declined.
A senior US defense official told journalists on Sunday the US had also offered lower-level meetings but China did not respond.
A member of China's delegation told AFP the removal of US sanctions on Li was a precondition for talks.
However, there have been some signs of improved dialogue between the two nations.
CIA director William Burns made a secret trip to China last month, a US official announced on Friday.
Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink will also travel to China on Sunday for a rare visit.
In his speech in Singapore on Saturday, Lloyd outlined Washington's extensive partnerships in the region.
"America’s partnerships are bringing the region closer together to help keep it free, open and secure," he said.
