US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on Saturday (June 3) that dialogue between the United States and China is “essential’ in order to prevent any miscalculation which potentially can lead to conflict. His words have come after China rejected a formal meeting between him and his Chinese counterpart. Austin and Li Shangfu shook hands and briefly spoke for the first time at the opening dinner of the Shangri-La Dialogue defence summit in Singapore the night before, but the interaction fell short of the Pentagon’s hopes for a more substantive exchange.
Shoring up alliances
Austin is on a tour of Asia. Previously it took him to Japan and it’ll also include a visit to India. The outreach is part of US efforts to shore up alliances and strengthen relations in the region in the face of assertive China.
“The United States believes that open lines of communication with the People’s Republic of China are essential — especially between our defense and military leaders,” Austin said in remarks at the Shangri-La Dialogue.
“The more that we talk, the more that we can avoid the misunderstandings and miscalculations that could lead to crisis or conflict.”
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The US had invited Li to meet on the sidelines of the summit. However, China declined. A Chinese spokeswoman said “the US knows clearly why there are currently difficulties in military communication”
Li faced US sanctions in 2018 for buying Russian weapons. The Pentagon however says that this does not prevent him from conducting official business with Austin.
A senior US defence official said it was good for the two to speak, but Austin told the defence summit that “a cordial handshake over dinner is no substitute for a substantive engagement.”
Austin said he was “deeply concerned that (China) has been unwilling to engage more seriously on better mechanisms for crisis management between our two militaries”, expressing hope that would soon change.
He also took aim at Beijing for conducting “an alarming number of risky intercepts of US and allied aircraft flying lawfully in international airspace”, including one last week.
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