From June 10 to 12, Singapore hosted the Asia-Pacific Security and Defense Forum “Shangri-La Dialogue.” The Chinese Defense Minister delivered a speech at the Shangri-La Conference titled “China’s Vision for Regional Order,” and Austin will repeat US defense strategy in the Indo-Pacific area.
Outside the meeting, one of the highlights was the first face-to-face encounter between China’s and the United States’ defense ministers, Lloyd Austin and Wei Fenghe. “From our standpoint,” a senior US official said, “we expect the substance of this summit to focus on managing competitiveness on regional and global concerns.”
The Sino-US negotiations were supposed to last 30 minutes, but they went on for 28 minutes. Following the discussion, a Chinese spokeswoman stated that the Sino-US talks were a strategic dialogue in which they discussed Sino-US ties, the Taiwan Strait problem, the South China Sea issue, and the Ukraine situation in a forthright, positive, and productive manner. China has long thought that seeing is preferable to not seeing, and talking is better to not talking.
Why Should the Chinese and US Defense Ministers Meet?
The likelihood of encounters between Chinese and American ships and military aircraft in the South China Sea, East China Sea, and other places has recently increased, and domestic public opinion on both sides has become increasingly hostile. As a result, the purpose of the meeting between military men from both sides is not to eradicate the cause of disputes and conflicts (which is Politicians), but to learn more about each other face to face, define the bottom line, and develop a regular communication channel.
Military officials from the United States and China have utilized the Shangri-La Dialogue to de-escalate tensions. Wei Fenghe met then-US Secretary of Defense James Mattis at the Shangri-La Dialogue in 2018 and invited him to Beijing. A few weeks later, Mattis visited to Beijing to meet with Chinese authorities, and China’s military ministry portrayed the encounter as “pleasant and fruitful.”
What did the Chinese and American defense ministers discuss?
According to the Chinese side’s introduction, the two sides addressed the relationship between China and the United States, the Taiwan Strait problem, the South China Sea issue, and the Ukraine crisis within an hour.
Lloyd Austin, the United States’ Defense Secretary, tweeted: “At the Shangri-La Dialogue, I met with Minister Wei of the People’s Republic of China. We talked about US-China defense relations, as well as global and regional security challenges.”
Taiwan issue: The US administration stated two days before the summit that it had approved the transfer of $120 million in warship spare parts and related technical support to Taiwan. This is the fourth arms sale by the United States to Taiwan since the Biden administration entered office.
President Biden stated on May 23 during a visit to Japan that if China attacks Taiwan, the US will use military action to defend Taiwan. Austin claimed in an interview with the Nikkei on June 1 that he aims to increase weaponry supplies and training for the Taiwanese military in order to counter China’s rising threat. China must reiterate its position and offer a warning face to face.
Ukrainian crisis issue: This is a subject that all parties must deal with, yet their perspectives are quite different, and there is no opportunity for retreat or modification. It is more that both sides promote their own points of view.
Indo-Pacific and Asia-Pacific: The United States confirms its commitment to the Asia-Pacific area, while China underscores China’s position and willingness to maintain and defend regional peace.
Consensus: The US hopes to focus on establishing more communication hotlines between China and the US, as well as on crisis management and control, maintaining high-level strategic communication, enhancing strategic mutual trust between the two sides, managing and controlling conflicts and differences, and not turning conflicts and differences into conflicts confrontation.
What can the US and Chinese defense ministers agree on?
The mood is obviously tit for tat and not cheerful. Normal communication is essential. It is obviously beneficial for the two global powers, China and the United States, to find consensus on global issues, but it is also critical for the two sides to maintain open communication channels in order to avoid misjudgment and promote effective communication between the two sides. Austin also stated in early May that we all realize the necessity of conversation and keeping the pipeline open.
The frequency of contact between the two military has decreased from more than 40 times in 2013 to 11 times in 2019. From August 2020 to April 2022, the two sides will not undertake leadership-level defense discussions. If this trend continues, the two main countries will be in grave risk of more misunderstandings and miscalculations. It is also quite likely that no mechanism exists to prevent malignant events from occurring at vital times.
Relations between China and the United States have been strained in recent months. China’s heightened military pressure on Taiwan, China’s military activity in the South China Sea, and Beijing’s efforts to expand its influence in the Pacific have sparked tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
Learn about each other’s military and security strategies, as well as financial conditions. According to Wei Fenghe, China aims to develop a healthy and stable major-country relationship with the United States, which should also be the focus of joint Chinese-American efforts. The US must see China’s development and expansion objectively, rather than attacking and smearing China, containing and suppressing China, and interfering in China’s internal affairs or harming China’s interests. Only in this manner can China-US ties improve.
The United States does not want a breakthrough. According to the Defense Department source, a fundamental US priority is to assist develop guardrails in the military-to-military relationship to minimize rivalry from getting out of hand. “From our perspective, the summit should concentrate on controlling competitiveness on regional and global challenges.”
