(Washington) The American and Chinese defense ministers spoke on Tuesday for the first time in a year and a half, a new sign of the desire of the two superpowers to maintain dialogue despite still high tensions.
The exchange comes as the United States seeks to strengthen its military alliances with other countries in the Asia-Pacific region to counter China’s growing influence.
At the same time, Washington wants to maintain open lines of communication with Beijing to prevent an escalation of tensions.
PHOTO TINGSHU WANG, REUTERS
Dong Jun
US Defense Minister Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun spoke via videoconference, the Pentagon said.
“The two officials discussed the defense relationship between the United States and the People’s Republic of China and regional and global security issues,” Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder said in a statement.
Lloyd Austin “emphasized the importance of continuing to open military lines of communication” between the two powers and “reaffirmed that the United States will continue to fly, sail and operate safely and responsibly wherever international law allows them to do so.”
He then “stressed the importance of respecting freedom of navigation on the high seas guaranteed by international law, particularly in the South China Sea.”
” Trust ”
On the Chinese side, Defense Minister Dong Jun called for more “trust” between the two powers, according to a press release from his ministry.
China and the United States “must regard peace as the most precious thing” and “stability as the most important thing,” he stressed. “The military sector is crucial in order to (…) stabilize the development of bilateral relations and prevent major crises.”
Dong Jun, however, reaffirmed his position on Taiwan. China sees the island as one of its provinces, which it has not yet managed to reunify with the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.
“The Taiwan issue lies at the core of China’s core interests, and China’s core interests must not be harmed,” the Chinese minister warned.
He also called on the United States to respect his country’s sovereignty claims in the South China Sea, where Beijing claims much of the islands and reefs and where tensions have risen recently with the Philippines.
“The United States must recognize China’s firm position” and “take concrete measures to safeguard regional peace,” he stressed.
Biden’s warning
This exchange comes less than a week after an unprecedented summit in Washington between American, Philippine and Japanese leaders, during which they notably condemned behavior deemed “dangerous and aggressive” by Beijing in this strategic maritime zone.
In a warning clearly aimed at Beijing, US President Joe Biden pledged to defend the Philippines in the event of an “attack”.
The dialogue on military security between the two countries, agreed by Joe Biden and Xi Jinping during a meeting in November in California, recently resumed, with a working meeting in early April between American and Chinese military representatives in Hawaii.
But the Pentagon chief’s last significant exchange with his Chinese counterpart dates back to November 2022, when he met then-Defense Minister Wei Fenghe in Cambodia.
Beijing had decided to break off high-level military discussions with Washington after the stay in Taiwan in 2022 of Nancy Pelosi, then Democratic leader of the House of Representatives.
China and the United States went through a period of strong tension at the start of 2023, linked to the flight over American territory by a Chinese balloon.
Despite a certain thaw, tensions still remain high, whether it is technological rivalry or Taiwan.
Before the American and Chinese leaders agreed in November on the resumption of military discussions, the American Minister of Defense had warned of accidents which could degenerate in the absence of communication between the armies of the two countries.
reference: www.lapresse.ca