China ‘will respond to threats to sovereignty’
Warning comes as PLA resumes maritime talks with US military after two-year hiatus
Fresh talks last week between Chinese and US military officials were “candid and constructive”, but Beijing will continue to respond to sovereignty threats in the region, the defence ministry warned yesterday.
The talks in Hawaii on Wednesday and Thursday were the first in more than two years under the banner of the US-China Military Maritime Consultative Agreement (MMCA) working group, and brought together officials from the People’s Liberation Army and the US Indo-Pacific Command, Pacific Fleet and Pacific Air Forces.
The ministry said the meeting was held to “promote the healthy, stable, and sustainable development of military relations between the two countries”.
“On the basis of equality and mutual respect, both sides had candid and constructive exchanges on the current maritime and air security situation between China and the United States,” it said.
The two delegations discussed “safety-related events” that had occurred in the last few years, as well as how to avoid accidental clashes in the future, the US IndoPacific Command said.
In October, the Pentagon released footage of what it said were Chinese fighters discharging flares and chaff while approaching US aircraft at high speeds.
Officials also evaluated the implementation of the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea since 2021, when the last MMCA meeting was held.
The working group’s annual meetings were put on hold in 2022 in the aftermath of a visit to Taiwan by then House speaker Nancy Pelosi.
In November of last year, President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Joe Biden agreed to resume military dialogues.
At the talks in Honolulu last week, Beijing said it was committed to promoting regional peace, stability, and prosperity, but also highlighted concerns over security and sovereignty, the ministry said.
The Chinese delegation “pointed out that the safety of ships and aircraft is inseparable from national security, and China firmly opposes any actions that jeopardise China’s sovereignty and security under the pretext of freedom of navigation and overflight”.
US delegation head Colonel Ian Francis of the Indo-Pacific Command had said the United States would continue to operate in the region “wherever international law allows”.
Meanwhile, the defence chiefs of the US, Japan, Australia and the Philippines said in a joint statement yesterday that the nations would conduct a full-scale naval exercise together in the South China Sea for the first time.
They said the “maritime cooperative activity” would be held today to show a “collective commitment to strengthen regional and international cooperation in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific”.