Shangri-La Dialogue: Chinese defence minister Li Shangfu accuses US of double standards in veiled attack
- Li tells defence conference that ‘some countries’ only serve their own interests
- But he takes a more tempered tone when referring directly to relations with Washington
“It practises exceptionalism and double standards and only serves the interests and follows the rules of a small number of countries,” he told Asia’s biggest defence conference.
They include opposition to unilateral sanctions and the use of economic development to stem instability and conflict.
China has accused the US of using sanctions without getting United Nations approval, but Beijing has imposed unofficial retaliatory trade embargoes on Australia, Canada, Lithuania, South Korea and Taiwan.
“We in China believe that the key for countries to live in harmony is mutual respect and treating each other as equals,” he said.
“We are strongly opposed to imposing one’s own will on others, placing one’s own interests above those of others and pursuing one’s own security at the expense of others.”
He said some unspecified countries had “wilfully interfered in other country’s internal affairs”.
Shangri-La Dialogue: US and China stand ground on Taiwan, South China Sea
US-China ties
He said ties between the two countries in the past few years had reached a “record low” since 1979, when the countries established official relations.
“It is undeniable that a severe conflict or confrontation between China and the US would be an unbearable disaster for the world,” he said.
“China believes that a big power should behave like one instead of provoking bloc confrontation for self-interest.”
He said the US needed to act with sincerity and “take concrete action” with China to stabilise and prevent further worsening of ties.
As China, US defence chiefs arrive for Shangri-La forum, will a meeting happen?
‘Open to talks’
China was open to communication with the US, as well as between their militaries, the defence minister said.
“Our two countries and two militaries have smooth communication channels at different levels, but we have our principles to communication,” he said.
“We hope our exchanges cooperation will be based on mutual respect. That is very fundamental principle.”
Chinese Lieutenant General He Lei had told the South China Morning Post that China declined the meeting mainly because of US secondary sanctions on Li. Beijing has also said the US has not created an atmosphere conducive to dialogue.
The US State Department announced on Saturday that Daniel Kritenbrink, the top US diplomat for East Asia and the Pacific, would visit China and New Zealand from Sunday. His trip will end on June 10.
After the speech, He said Li did not name the US when recounting the “problems and crises” it caused, saying this was intended to leave the door open for future bilateral meetings with US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.
“It’s an art to name or not to name someone in your presentation,” He, who is also a Chinese delegate, said. “It’s enough to let the audience in the region understand China’s stance and views.”
“Indeed, China-US tensions have yet to become crisis. As a defence minister, Li needs to maintain his image as a magnanimous leader on the international stage. Also, our defence ministry spokesman has already named and lashed out at the US.”
Why the US and Chinese defence ministers should meet at the Shangri-La Dialogue
Taiwan Strait encounter
Asked about an incident on Saturday in which a Chinese navy ship manoeuvred near a US destroyer sailing through the Taiwan Strait, Li said: “What is key now is that we must prevent attempts to use freedom of navigation … as a pretext to exercise hegemony of navigation.”
On Saturday, the USS Chung-Hoon guided-missile destroyer and the Canadian frigate HMCS Montreal sailed through the strait.
The US Indo-Pacific Command said a Chinese destroyer had overtaken the Chung-Hoon on its port side and crossed its bow at 150 yards (137 metres) in an unsafe way. The Chinese ship crossed the Chung-Hoon again on at 2,000 yards and stayed off the US ship’s port bow.
“Chung-Hoon maintained course and slowed to 10 knots to avoid a collision,” it said, accusing the Chinese navy of violating rules on safe passage in international waters.
Li said: “Every day, I see a lot of information about foreign vessels and fighter jets coming to areas near our territory. They are not here for innocent passage. They are here for provocation.”
Li challenged freedom of navigation operations, saying that they were sign of a “hegemony”.
“The best way to prevent incidents is for other countries, especially their naval vessels and fighter jets, to not manoeuvre close to other countries’ territories. What’s the point going there? In China, we always say, ‘mind your own business’.”
02:58
China denounces US approval of US$619 million sale of missiles and military equipment to Taiwan
South China Sea
“We will manage risks and crises by advancing air and maritime security talks, and strictly following and continuously improving the code of unplanned encounters at sea,” he said.
Beijing claims various islands – and the waters around them – in the resource-rich area as part of its territory, a claim contested by the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia – and Taipei. Beijing has also installed military facilities on artificial islands it controls to the protest of neighbouring countries.
The US is not a claimant to the South China Sea, but it conducts frequent freedom of navigation patrols there.
Li praised cooperation between countries in the Asia-Pacific that allowed the waterway to remain stable.
“However, we do see some countries outside the region exercising their hegemony of navigation in the name of freedom of navigation,” he said.
“They want to muddy the waters so they can rake in profits. Regional countries should stay highly vigilant and firmly reject these acts.”
On Taiwan
Li repeated Beijing’s position on Taiwan, saying the island was “core of China’s core interests”, and remained an internal issue for China, out of bounds for foreign governments.
“Taiwan is China’s Taiwan, and how to resolve the Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese to decide,” he said.
Beijing’s one-China principle – that there is but one China and Taiwan belongs to that China – had become a “universally recognised basic norm governing international relations”, he said.
However, many countries have various positions on Taiwan that are not consistent with the one-China principle. Most countries do not recognise self-ruled Taiwan as an independent country, but many oppose a unilateral change in status quo, especially by force.
Li said Beijing would not renounce the use of force to put Taiwan under its control.
Beijing sees unifying Taiwan and mainland China as a milestone in “national rejuvenation”.
He accused Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party of “trying hard to erase the Chinese identity of Taiwan and then manipulating and hijacking public opinion”.
“If anyone dares to separate Taiwan from China, the Chinese military will not hesitate for a second, we will fear no opponents and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity regardless of any cost.”
03:25
France emphasises China’s peacekeeping role in Russia’s war in Ukraine
China’s Ukraine proposal
In short remarks, Li defended China’s push for talks to help end the war in Ukraine, calling Beijing’s position “objective and impartial”.
Shangri-La Dialogue puts focus on shifting US-China military balance
‘Words do not match deeds’
Drew Thompson, a visiting senior research fellow with the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, said Li’s speech showed China’s words did not match its deeds.
“A big takeaway from that encounter was that the region believes that China’s actions do not match its rhetoric,” he said, referring to the speech.
“China is saying the right things, but it’s not doing the right things.”
“So, the question in the minds of everyone in the room is under what conditions will China live up to international rules and agreements that it has signed? Or why it doesn’t follow the rules that it has agreed to?”
‘More persuasive’ approach
Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs think tank, said Li appeared to have a more “analytical demeanour” when delivering his speech on Sunday, a departure from his predecessor’s “much more hardline way” of presentation. That made his speech more persuasive and easier to digest, he said.
Following his speech, confidently deflected multiple questions on an incident between American and Chinese vessels in the Taiwan Strait, Oh said.
“I especially welcome at the very end that he deliberately took the floor again and said he looked forward to interacting more with [military leaders],” Oh added. “He showed a softer, more analytical and more pragmatic side to Chinese military diplomacy.”
‘What is Nato?’
“Nato is a security alliance, a military alliance. The existence of a military alliance [means] it needs enemies, it needs adversaries,” Zhao said.
“So while it provides security guarantees to its members, at the same time it puts its fingers in other countries.
“So what it brought to either Europe or the Asia-Pacific is not peace and stability but division [and] confrontation.”
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas dismissed the suggestion as “ridiculous”.
Nato was born out of a need to deal with existential threats such as Russia, and its premise was to work out “how to defend ourselves better”, she said.
“If you say that Nato is threatening somebody’s sovereignty or territorial integrity, how does that really play out? Because then Nato invades the country and then we share it amongst ourselves, with 31 countries? So, you get a bigger piece and we get a smaller piece?” she said.
“I mean that is ridiculous. That is not how it works.”
East Timor’s take
Speaking after Li Shangfu in the second plenary for the day, East Timorese President Dr José Ramos-Horta said the militarisation and building of artificial islands in the South China Sea was inconsistent with international law.
“The South China Sea should be declared a zone of peace and cooperation free of permanent military facilities,” he said.
Ramos-Horta said that at the start of his country’s independence, it had a dispute with Australia over a maritime boundary.
Mediation by the United Nations using the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea established a fair boundary “right down the middle”.
“If we did not follow international standard rules, well, we would be evicted,” he said.
He also chided the rich “Global North” for not living up to its commitment to reduce conflict and poverty, and urged the West to rethink its “tunnel vision” approach in dealing with China.
“China has spread globally … The well-being of its people, its security are intertwined with all of the rest of the world. I would think that China has every interest not to kill the cow that supplies the milk.”
Additional reporting by Su-Lin Tan, Minnie Chan and Dewey Sim
