US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Saturday that dialogue between the United States and China is "necessary" and will avoid miscalculations that could lead to conflict after Beijing refused to hold an official meeting between him and his Chinese counterpart.

Edited by | Adam Lurked

politics NewsSection

4 June 2023 - Washington

     Austin and his Chinese counterpart Li Changfu shook hands and spoke briefly for the first time at the opening dinner of the Shangri-La conference dedicated to dialogue on defense issues in Singapore on Friday, but the movement between them fell short of the Pentagon's hopes for a more substantive dialogue.

Although the two ministers shook hands symbolically, Austin said he hoped for a more "substantive" exchange with Li Changfu.

The United States had invited me to meet with Austin on the sidelines of the conference. But Beijing refused, and a spokeswoman said, "The United States clearly knows why there are currently difficulties in military communication" between the two countries.

Tensions between Washington and Beijing have escalated this year over issues including Taiwan and a Chinese spy balloon that was shot down by a US warplane after it entered US territory.

However, it appears that the channels of communication between the two military powers are not completely closed, as evidenced by the visit of CIA Director William Burns to Beijing in May to meet his counterparts there.

The US Secretary is on a tour of Asia that led him to Japan and will include a visit to India. This tour comes within the framework of Washington's efforts to strengthen its alliances and partnerships in the region in the face of the rise of China's influence.

"The United States believes that open lines of communication with the People's Republic of China is essential, particularly between military and defense officials" in the two countries, Austin said in a speech at the Shangri-La conference.

"The more we talk, the more we can avoid misunderstandings and miscalculations that could lead to crisis or conflict," he added.

The Chinese delegation was quick to respond to Austin's speech, and Colonel Tang Hefei, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Defense, said that the US Secretary of Defense "made many false accusations" in his speech, and added to reporters, "We oppose it."

Another member of the Chinese delegation, Colonel Zhao Xiaoguo, said it was not up to Washington to tell China what to do.

"What we are doing in the Chinese army is based on the core interests of China's security, which is the fundamental issue," he added.

In 2018, the US administration imposed sanctions on Shangfu, who became defense minister last March, for purchasing Russian weapons. But the Pentagon says that does not preclude Austin from having a formal dialogue with him. Changfu will address the meeting on Sunday.

Lifting sanctions was "one of the preconditions for substantive talks," Zhao told AFP.

A senior US defense official said it was good that the two ministers spoke, but Austin told the Defense Summit that "a friendly handshake at a dinner party is not a substitute for a substantive commitment."

Austin said he was "deeply concerned about (China's) unwillingness to engage in a more serious dialogue on better mechanisms to manage the crisis between our two militaries," expressing hope that the situation would change soon.

He criticized Beijing for conducting "a disturbing number of dangerous interceptions of US and allied aircraft lawfully flying in international space," including last week's incident.

In that incident, the US military said that a Chinese fighter pilot conducted an "unprovoked aggressive maneuver" near a US reconnaissance plane that was flying over the South China Sea.

Video recordings released by the US military showed a Chinese fighter jet passing in front of an American plane shaking due to the turbulence caused by the fighter's passage.

However, the Chinese military said that the US aircraft "infiltrated" a military training area.

Another issue of tension concerns microchips, with Beijing announcing in May that US semiconductor company Micron had not passed a national security review and would not be allowed to sell to operators of "critical information infrastructure".

The announcement came after Washington and its allies took measures in recent months that China deemed aimed at restricting its ability to buy or manufacture advanced chips and curb its growing global influence.

In April, Beijing conducted three days of military exercises around the autonomous island of Taiwan, during which it simulated targeted strikes and sieges.

China considers Taiwan an integral part of its territory, affirming its determination to restore it by force if necessary, and the island lives in constant fear of invasion.

The Chinese maneuvers came in response to a meeting between Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California, which the Chinese consulate in Los Angeles said undermined "the political foundations of Sino-US relations."

Austin said at the Shangri-La Summit that the United States is "adherent to maintaining the status quo" in the Taiwan Strait and "will continue to resolutely oppose unilateral changes to the status quo from either side."

On the sidelines of the summit, Washington, Seoul, and Tokyo announced their intention to deal with warnings of North Korean missiles, following a failed North Korean attempt to launch a spy satellite on Wednesday.