Update | Washington keen to build ‘principled security network’ in Asia-Pacific, says US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter
But his comments that China’s South China Sea actions are ‘self isolating’ draws scorn from PLA delegation at Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore
Washington wants to build a “principled security network” in the Asia-Pacific region and has called on China to play a responsible role in it, US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter told a regional security forum on Saturday.
Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a regional security summit in Singapore, Carter stressed that the US would remain the primary provider of regional peace and security.
China’s actions in the South China Sea are isolating it at a time when the entire region is coming together and networking. Unfortunately, if these actions continue, China could end up erecting a Great Wall of self-isolation
“As we weave these bilateral, trilateral, and multilateral relationships together, it’s important to remember that this principled network is not aimed at any particular country,” he said.
“The United States welcomes the emergence of a peaceful, stable and prosperous China that plays a responsible role in the region’s principled security network.”
“Security is like oxygen,” he said. When you have enough, you pay no attention to it. But when you don’t have enough, you can think of nothing else.
“In the years ahead, as we continue to realise this brighter, principled future, providing the region’s oxygen will more and more become a networked effort.”