Beijing [China], June 5: Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu criticized the US but also stressed the importance of improving bilateral relations and avoiding confrontation.
Yesterday (June 4), Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu delivered a keynote address at the final day of the Shangri-La Dialogue . A day earlier, also speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin strongly criticized China.
Beijing counterattack
In his address to an international audience since taking office in March, Minister Li ThuongPhuc said that the Asia-Pacific is facing unprecedented security challenges. He drew criticism against the US when he said "there are some countries" that impose their own rules on others through the international rules-based order but with their own selective approach, according to The Straits Times newspaper .
Minister Li warned that actions to promote the establishment of military alliances such as NATO in the Asia-Pacific will increase the risk of conflict and confrontation. Responding to US accusations about the two countries' warship nearly colliding in the Taiwan Strait on June 3, Mr. Li said Beijing had no problem with "innocent passage" but would prevent the use of the two countries' ships. use freedom of navigation patrols to exercise hegemony and provocation.
According to Mr. Li, thanks to the efforts of China and other countries in the region, the situation in the East Sea is generally stable, but there are some outside countries that are exercising hegemony in the name of freedom of navigation and want to stir up trouble in the region. sea ​​for profit. He pledged to coordinate with countries in the region to fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), promote negotiations on the Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC to turning the area into a sea of ​​"peace, friendship and cooperation".
Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder yesterday said the US remains concerned about the increasingly risky and coercive actions of the Chinese military in the region, AFP reported. Before the incident on June 6, the US military also criticized the dangerous action of a Chinese fighter jet against a US reconnaissance plane in the South China Sea on May 26.
Call to avoid conflict
In his speech, Mr. Lee used a softer tone when talking about US-China relations. The minister called the relationship between the two countries at a "record low" and warned that "a serious conflict or confrontation between China and the US will be an unbearable disaster for the world". He called on the US to show sincerity and take concrete actions to stabilize and prevent bilateral relations from deteriorating.
Minister Li said China is willing to communicate with the US at the government and military levels, but communication has principles. "We hope the exchange cooperation will be based on mutual respect. That is a very basic principle," Mr. Lee said.
Earlier, the US military said that China had rejected an offer to hold a dialogue between the defense ministers of the two sides on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue. A senior US defense official yesterday revealed that Washington continues to offer lower-level dialogue, but Beijing has not responded. A member of the Chinese delegation told AFP that a prerequisite was for the US to lift the embargo on Li.
Speaking at a discussion session yesterday afternoon, Singapore's Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen affirmed that the US-China relationship is central to the stability of Asia and the Indo-Pacific, and called for maintain formal and informal channels of communication to reduce tension and avoid conflict when unforeseen events occur.
"For Asia, the priority of government leaders must be to avoid a conflict here, at least for the next decade. Simultaneous conflicts in Europe and Asia would be catastrophic for an entire generation," said Mr. Ng Eng Hen.
Source: ThanhNien Newspaper