2023-06-04 23:06:48
Li Changfu became defense minister in March
China’s defense minister said that war with the United States, if it happened, would be an “unbearable catastrophe” for the world, in his first official speech since taking office.
At a security summit, General Li Changfu said that “some countries” have intensified the arms race in Asia.
But he said the world is big enough, for both China and the United States, and the two superpowers should seek common ground.
The United States had claimed earlier, that a Chinese destroyer maneuvers “unsafe” near a US warship in the Taiwan Strait.
On Saturday, the US Navy said a Chinese destroyer had sailed “in an unsafe manner” near a US warship while it was transiting the Taiwan Strait with Canadian ships.
China criticized both countries for “deliberately taking risks”. The United States and Canada said they were sailing where international law permitted it.
General Lee, who became defense secretary in March, accused the US of having a “Cold War mentality” and said this “significantly increases security risks”.
In his speech, he said that China will not allow the naval patrols of the United States and its allies to be “an excuse to exercise hegemony over navigation.”
When asked about the incident in the Taiwan Strait, he said that countries outside the region are the ones stirring up tensions.
He was speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, the only annual security meeting in the Asia-Pacific region.
Beijing rejected a US request for direct military talks, in protest against the sanctions imposed by the United States on General Lee in 2018, related to arms purchases from Russia.
At the Singapore summit, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sharply criticized China for refusing to engage in military discussions.
General Austin and General Lee shook hands and spoke briefly at the event’s opening dinner on Friday, but did not have any conversations of importance, reports said.
A Chinese delegate told AFP that the lifting of US sanctions on General Lee was a precondition for any talks.
According to Archyde.com, senior intelligence officials attended a meeting of intelligence chiefs at the Singapore summit.
Despite the diplomatic row, a senior US State Department official has arrived in Beijing and will stay for a week for wide-ranging talks.
Relations between Washington and Beijing have been strained in recent years over many issues, including China’s claim to annex Taiwan and territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
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