China Briefing | China and the United States – best of frenemies

By coincidence or design, the two major events of the past 10 days have brought into sharper focus a “new normal” in ties between Beijing and Washington: confrontation and cooperation are intensifying at the same time.

Friction was all too palpable at the high-level security conference known as the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore a little more than a week ago.

What is the Shangri-La Dialogue and why is it so important?

Senior defence officials from the United States and its allies have ratcheted up pressure on China to uphold principle and international law in Beijing’s broad maritime claim to the South China Sea. In particular, they are keen for Beijing to respect an upcoming ruling from the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague where the Philippines has challenged China’s maritime claims under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

China’s dialogue delegation better prepared and more at ease than last year

US Defence Secretary Ash Carter said on the first day of the conference that China risked erecting a “Great Wall of self-isolation”. Carter was backed by defence ministers from Japan and other countries, including France and Britain, urging compliance with the international laws and norms even though some of them did not mention China explicitly.

The next day, Admiral Sun Jianguo, a deputy chief of the Chinese military’s joint staff department and China’s main delegate to the conference, launched a forceful defence, accusing Washington and its allies of harbouring a cold war mentality. He said China would not be isolated and reiterated Beijing’s refusal to recognise the Hague tribunal’s ruling.

Rhetorical truce: China and US expected to avoid conflict at Singapore security forum

In fact, both Carter and Sun spent much more time talking about how their two militaries should cooperate. Carter said the Chinese navy had been invited to take part in the high-profile Rim of the Pacific international naval exercises later this year and that he would visit China later this year. Sun said “shaking hands is better than clenching fists”.