US defence chief Lloyd Austin says China is getting ‘more coercive’ in its territorial claims

Washington will help Indo-Pacific allies ‘deter aggression’, he tells security summit in Singapore
He says Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has ‘galvanised’ the world and undercut international order

Shangri-La Dialogue

Jack Lauin SingaporeandMinnie Chanin Singapore

Published: 9:30am, 11 Jun 2022

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US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin told a key security summit on Saturday that Beijing is getting “more coercive” in its territorial claims and Washington is committed to helping its allies in the Indo-Pacific defend themselves.

The US would ensure its allies had the right capabilities to “deter aggression”, he said in a speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a three-day defence gathering in Singapore organised by British think tank the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

“We seek a region free of aggression and bullying, and we seek a world that respects territorial integrity and political independence,” Austin said. “That’s especially important as the [People’s Republic of China] adopts a more coercive and aggressive approach to its territorial claims.”

US defence chief Lloyd Austin speaks at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday. Photo: EPA-EFE

The US defence chief also talked about Ukraine, saying Russia’s invasion had “galvanised” the world and undercut an international order rooted in rules and respect. He said such concerns would be shared in the Indo-Pacific region.

“Now our friends and partners also know that and they understand that smaller countries have a right to peacefully resolve disputes with their larger neighbours,” Austin said. “And I’m here because the rules-based international order matters just as much in the Indo-Pacific as it does in Europe.”

Austin’s speech came a day after he met Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe for the first time in person, when they squared off over Taiwan and Ukraine but urged more communication. Wei is expected to deliver a speech on Sunday about the country’s vision for regional order.

China and the US have increasingly clashed on security and defence in the Indo-Pacific. Beijing has said American efforts to unite nations under security alliances such as Aukus and the Quad are aimed at containing China.

Austin said there had been an “alarming” increase in unsafe and unprofessional encounters between Chinese militaries and those of other nations.

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Australia has complained that a Chinese J-16 fighter jet performed dangerous manoeuvres close to its surveillance plane over the South China Sea in late May that it said could have endangered the crew’s safety.

Canada has also criticised the Chinese air force, saying they flew too close to Canadian patrol aircraft while they were on a mission to uphold UN sanctions against North Korea and accusing PLA aircraft of attempting to forcefully change their flight paths.

China and the US are also at odds over military conduct in the disputed South China Sea and Taiwan and also over the war in Ukraine, for which China has refused to sanction Russia or to describe the conflict as an invasion.

Beijing sees self-ruled Taiwan as a Chinese province to be unified with the mainland, by force if necessary. The US, while seeing Taiwan’s sovereignty as an unresolved issue, opposes any unilateral changes to the status quo.

Austin said there had been a steady increase in “provocative and destabilising military activity near Taiwan”.

“That includes [Chinese military] aircraft flying near Taiwan in record numbers in recent months, and nearly on a daily basis,” he said.

He said the US was committed to its one-China policy and opposed unilateral change to the status quo of the Taiwan Strait, but also did not support Taiwan independence.

Western nations have also raised concerns about China’s military ambitions in the region after The Washington Post reported on Monday that China was building a naval base in Cambodia for PLA use, citing unnamed Western officials.

A ceremony to break ground on an upgrade to the Ream Naval Base, with Chinese assistance, was held on Wednesday. Chinese ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian said at the ceremony that the naval base did not target any third party and that Beijing firmly opposed some countries’ moves to smear normal exchanges between Cambodia and China.

In his speech, Austin said the US had reserved a budget for its Indo-Pacific deterrence initiatives and would boost economic ties with the region.

The US and its partners would operate in waters and airspace allowed by international law, he said.

Austin said the 2023 defence budget included US$6.1 billion for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, a series of investments to upgrade military information sharing, training and support, and to strengthen regional partnerships to counter China.

The Pentagon would also spend more on research into space and cyberspace technologies, pushing the R&D budget request to US$130 billion. Stealth aircraft, unmanned platforms, long-range precision fires and missile-countering lasers were among the new capabilities “to deter aggression even more surely”, he said.

But he stressed that Washington was not seeking conflict. “We do not seek confrontation or conflict. And we do not seek a new Cold War, an Asian Nato, or a region split into hostile blocs,” he said.