China’s defense chief turns down temperature on tensions with US
Summary
China’s Adm. Dong Jun sought to assuage fears of confrontation between the Chinese and American militaries a day after the U.S. defense chief did the same.
SINGAPORE—China’s defense minister sought to assuage fears of confrontation between the Chinese and American militaries a day after the U.S. defense chief did the same, part of an effort to manage tensions between the two global powers in a turbulent environment.
He also warned Washington against testing Beijing’s limits on its core interests, in a sign of how delicate and tentative the rapprochement remains.
In a Sunday speech to a security forum in Singapore, Adm. Dong Jun nodded to tensions between to the two militaries in arguing for increased exchange and cooperation.
“We believe that it’s precisely because the two militaries have differences that we need to communicate more," Dong told the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual gathering of defense officials. “Despite our different paths, we shouldn’t engage in confrontation with each other."
Dong’s speech came the day after U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told the dialogue that Washington doesn’t seek a contentious relationship with Beijing, and that a war with China is neither imminent nor unavoidable.
Ahead of the dialogue, Austin and Dong spoke face-to-face for the first time in a 75-minute meeting on Friday, when they reaffirmed plans to reopen direct lines of communication.
Tensions between the U.S. and China have flared as both powers criticized each other’s military activities around the island democracy of Taiwan and in the South China Sea, where Beijing has asserted sovereignty claims.
Communication between the two militaries had also lapsed in recent years, with Beijing saying that an emergency hotline gave the U.S. cover to engage in provocative military operations in China’s backyard.
The resumption of high-level military exchanges between the U.S. and China dovetails with broader efforts by both governments to step up dialogue over contentious issues such as trade and technological competition.
Analysts say both Washington and Beijing welcome the calming of tensions while each grapples with other priorities—with the U.S. preoccupied with the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, while China struggles with tepid economic growth and corruption in its military ranks.
Dong stressed that Beijing’s willingness to engage the U.S. wasn’t an invitation to undermine Chinese interests.
The Chinese defense minister devoted substantive passages of his Sunday speech to expound on Beijing’s grievances against Washington, including American political and military cooperation with Taiwan and the Philippines, though in these instances, Dong avoided directly naming the U.S. and only referred to an unspecified “external forces" or “major power."
Describing the Taiwan issue as “the most core of China’s core interests," Dong criticized “external interfering forces" for providing diplomatic support to Taipei and selling arms to the island. He said such maneuvers were designed to embolden Taiwan independence elements and “use Taiwan to contain China."
Dong also blamed “external forces" for instigating China’s recent spat with the Philippines over the Second Thomas Shoal, a disputed reef in the South China Sea, and denounced the recent deployment of a new U.S. missile system in the Philippines during joint military drills.
In recent months, Chinese vessels have become increasingly aggressive in disrupting missions to supply a military detachment that the Philippines keeps stationed on the Second Thomas Shoal, which Beijing refers to as Ren’ai Jiao. The U.S. has repeatedly warned that an “armed attack" on Philippine vessels would invoke their mutual defense pact.
Offering an apparent response to Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who on Friday condemned what he called “illegal, coercive, aggressive" actions against his country’s sovereignty, Dong restated China’s claim that the Philippines provoked the standoff by reneging on an agreement with Beijing over resupply missions to the Second Thomas Shoal.
The minister defended Chinese activities around the reef as lawful and appropriate, and urged relevant countries to desist and defuse the dispute through dialogue.
“The Chinese side has exercised sufficient restraint in the face of the provocations," Dong said. “But there are limits to this."
The Chinese defense minister nodded to concerns in the U.S. and Europe about Beijing’s support for Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine.
With Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky set to speak at the same conference in Singapore later in the day, Dong said China isn’t selling weapons to either side. He nodded to Beijing’s recent tightening of export controls on goods with potential military applications in portraying China as an agent of peace.
