‘Talks needed to calm tensions’
US DEFENCE Secretary Jim Mattis told his Chinese counterpart yesterday that the world’s two largest economies needed to deepen high-level ties to navigate tension and rein in the risk of inadvertent conflict.
Mattis saw first-hand last month how mounting Sino-US friction could undermine military contacts when Beijing up-ended plans for him to travel to China in October to meet Defence Minister Wei Fenghe.
It was in retaliation for recent US sanctions, one of a growing number of flashpoints in relations between Washington and Beijing that include a bitter trade war, and Taiwan and China’s increasingly muscular military posture in the South China Sea.
Mattis and Wei made no remarks as they shook hands at the start of their talks on the sidelines of a regional security conference in Singapore. The meeting ended without any public statements.
The Pentagon’s top official for Asia-Pacific affairs, Randall Schriver, said Mattis described the talks as “straightforward and candid”.
Schriver said the discussions covered numerous issues but focused on the disputed South China Sea, where Chinese military activity was viewed by Washington as irresponsible, and Beijing complains of an inappropriate US military presence.
Schriver said Mattis and Wei largely restated differing views on thorny security disputes but agreed on the need for durable ties. Wei has a standing invitation to visit the US.
Military-to-military ties have long been one of the more fragile parts of the overall US-China relationship, with Beijing limiting contacts when tensions run high. China has been infuriated by the US putting sanctions on its military for buying weapons from Russia, and by what Beijing sees as stepped-up US support for self-ruled Taiwan, claimed by China as its sacred territory.
In a recent reminder of the risks amid rising tensions, the Pentagon this month accused China of an unsafe and unprofessional manoeuvre in the South China Sea that brought a Chinese ship dangerously close to a US Navy destroyer in international waters.
Mattis, speaking to reporters as he flew to Asia this week, rejected Chinese claims that the US was acting aggressively and pointed the finger at Beijing.
But tensions between the US and China have already extended well beyond naval manoeuvres and even the bitter trade war. US President Donald Trump last month accused China of seeking to meddle in November 6 congressional elections, a charge almost immediately rejected by Beijing.
The Pentagon’s top concerns have been China’s rapid military modernisation and simultaneous creation of military outposts in the South China Sea. The Pentagon withdrew an invitation to China to a multinational exercise earlier this year in protest.
China expressed disappointment to Mattis yesterday over that decision, Schriver said.
“Minister Wei said that he did hope that there’d be future opportunities. And if the relationship progresses that way, I’m sure we’ll entertain it,” Schriver said. “But we’re not there right now.”