China takes veiled shot at ‘destabilising’ US presence in the Asia-Pacific
Admiral Sun Jianguo says China does not feel isolated but that others with a cold-war mentality were in danger of isolating themselves
China’s chief delegate to a regional security summit suggested on Sunday that United States was destabilising the Asia-Pacific by increasing its military presence and beefing up its coalition in the region amid heightened tensions over the South China Sea.
Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Admiral Sun Jianguo, deputy chief of the Central Military Commission’s Joint Staff Department, also rejected US Defence Secretary Ash Carter’s claim that China’s assertive action in the sea’s escalating maritime disputes was “provocative, destabilising and self-isolating”.
Sun said China “was not isolated in the past and we will not be isolated in the future”, saying many Asian nations were “friendlier and warmer” to China now than last year.
Over the three-day forum, he held 17 bilateral meetings, up from 13 last year. But there was no announcement of any between China and the United States or the Philippines.
“Actually, I am worried that some people and countries are still looking at China with a cold war mentality and prejudice. They may end up isolating themselves,” Sun said.
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Without naming the US, Sun said “some nation has blatantly showed off its military prowess” while colluding with other countries to exert pressure on China to accept an impending ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague over the South China Sea disputes. He urged nations not directly in the disputes not to sabotage efforts to find a peaceful solution. “We don’t cause trouble and we are not afraid of any trouble,” Sun said.
