China, US militaries in crunch talks to avoid conflicts in Taiwan and South China Sea
A US naval vessel plies the South China Sea in a file photo. Photo: Facebook. Sketched by the Pan Pacific Agency.
HONG KONG, Aug 7, 2020, SCMP. China’s Defence Minister Wei Fenghe and his US counterpart Mark Esper warned each other in a phone call about escalating risks over Taiwan and the South China Sea, in the highest-level US-China talks since state leader Yang Jiechi met US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Hawaii in mid-June, South China Morning Post reported.
Esper “expressed concerns about [the Chinese military’s] destabilising activity in the vicinity of Taiwan and the South China Sea, and called on [China] to honour international obligations” as well as share more of its data on Covid-19, Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman told reporters in Washington on Thursday.
“There are obligations that the Chinese government is under responsibility for with regard to the [World Health Organisation] agreements, so they have a need to provide samples to provide data,” Hoffman said. “That didn’t happen and we expect them to to continue to improve their information sharing in regard of that.”
The US defence secretary also “affirmed the principles and importance of constructive, stable and result-oriented defence relationship between the United States” and the People’s Liberation Army, Hoffman said, adding that the call lasted about 90 minutes.
The conversation took place amid growing concerns about the possibility of a hot war between the two powers – especially over the South China Sea. The US sent 67 large reconnaissance planes to the contested region in July, a sharp increase on the previous two months, according to the Beijing-based South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative.
At 9pm on Wednesday, a US air force E-8C plane was detected in an area close to the southern province of Guangdong, according to the think tank. This was in addition to seven E-8C surveillance craft sightings near the Chinese coast in July, which it said represented an “upgrade of battlefield construction”.
Chinese air force troops carry out air defence drill over the South China SeaChinese air force troops carry out air defence drill over the South China Sea
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Wei also laid out for Esper the Chinese government’s position on Washington’s “stigmatisation” of China, according to Xinhua, which said that the US side requested the call.
The US Defence Department did not respond to a query about whether the Pentagon asked for the call.
Wei “expressed China’s principled position on the South China Sea, Taiwan, and the US’s ‘stigmatisation’ of China, asking the US to stop its wrong words and deeds, strengthen maritime risk management and control, avoid dangerous actions that may heat up the situation, and maintain regional peace and stability”, Xinhua said.
On July 13, Pompeo said that the US rejects all Chinese claims beyond the 12-nautical mile territorial area around the Spratly Islands, a statement that added further strains on a bilateral relationship that was already weighed down by a trade war and the US government’s moves to revoke Hong Kong’s status as being distinct from China.
The South China Sea, one of the world’s busiest waterways, is subject to several overlapping territorial disputes involving China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei. China claims more than 80 per cent, while Vietnam claims sovereignty over the Paracel Islands and the Spratly Islands.
The conflict has remained unresolved for decades, and has increasingly emerged as a flashpoint for China-US relations in Asia.
Esper said last month that he hoped to visit China by the end of this year to improve “crisis communications” channels.
Hoffman declined to say when Esper’s trip to China would happen.
“As soon as we do have an update on either timing or location or anything like that I’ll be sure to share it with you guys,” he said.
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