SINGAPORE: Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu has warned against setting up a NATO-like military alliance in the Asia-Pacific, stating such a move would plunge the region into a “whirlpool” of war.
AFP said that his comments came a day after US and Chinese military warships cruised close to one another in the volatile Taiwan Strait, igniting resentment on both sides.
“Attempts to push for NATO-like (alliances) in the Asia-Pacific is a way of hijacking regional countries and escalating disputes and confrontations,” Li said at a security conference in Singapore, where US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin was also present.
According to Li, these partnerships would “throw the Asia-Pacific region into a whirlpool of disputes and conflicts.”
Li did not mention any country, but his remarks implied long-standing Chinese criticism of the US efforts to strengthen regional alliances.
The United States is a member of the AUKUS coalition, which groups it with Australia and Britain. The US is also a QUAD group member, including Australia, India and Japan.
Li observed at the Shangri-La Dialogue security meeting, “Today’s Asia-Pacific needs open and inclusive cooperation, not buddying up into small cliques.”
We must remember the terrible tragedies that the two world wars brought to the people of all nations, and we must prevent a replay of this awful history.
Conflict fears
Earlier, Austin demanded top-level military talks with Beijing to avert errors that would pit the two countries against one another.
“We may avoid misunderstandings and errors in judgement that can result in a crisis or conflict by communicating more,” according to Austin.
At the inaugural supper on Friday, Austin and Li shook hands and briefly conversed, but there was no in-depth discussion.
The Pentagon said that Beijing rebuffed the invitation from the United States for a meeting bewtween Li and Austin on the sidelines of the conference.
A China delegation member told AFP that removing US sanctions on its minister was a precondition for talks.
There had been some signs of improved dialogue between the two countries.
US and Chinese militaries had previously also engaged in dangerous encounters in two of the most sensitive areas in the region — the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.
On Saturday, US and Canadian warships sailed through the Taiwan Strait, the waterway that separates Taiwan from China.
The United States accused a Chinese Navy ship of sailing “unsafely” near the US vessel, the destroyer Chung-Hoon.
China claims Taiwan as its territory — vowing to take it one day, by force if necessary — and has, in recent years, ramped up military and political pressure on the island.
