No reply from Beijing to US call for South China Sea crisis talks
- Admiral Philip Davidson slams Chinese muscle flexing over disputed waters
- No response to ‘standing ask’ for a communication mechanism to reduce threat of miscalculation
A senior US military commander has slammed Beijing for flexing its muscles over the South China Sea, and for not responding to Washington’s call to set up a crisis communication mechanism.
Admiral Philip Davidson, commander of US Indo-Pacific Command, struck a cautious note at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado on Thursday over China’s growing military influence in the region.
Davidson said Washington and Beijing were having an “ongoing dialogue” at the military level, but a crisis communication mechanism was needed to reduce the threat of miscalculation.
“[Being] competitive does not mean don’t engage. We do engage at the military level,” he said. “[But] the US has a long-standing request with China. For me, to have a crisis communication with the Southern Theatre Command, which manages the South China Sea, and [China’s] Eastern Theatre Command … they have yet to respond to that ask.”
China and the US are locked in dispute over military deployment in the Indo-Pacific region. Beijing has protested against US freedom of navigation exercises in the South China Sea, while the US and China’s Southeast Asian neighbours are concerned about China’s military build-up there.
Davidson confirmed Washington’s commitment to a continued US presence in the disputed South China Sea, which he said was not to assert US claims but to resolve disputes peacefully and preserve rule-based order.