As China and US revive military safety talks, Beijing warns against threats to sovereignty in Indo-Pacific
- Chinese and American officials hold ‘candid and constructive’ discussions on ‘safety-related events’ as maritime working group meets in Hawaii
- Group’s first meeting in over two years comes after annual talks were put on hold following former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan
Fresh talks this week between Chinese and US military officials were “candid and constructive”, but Beijing will continue to respond to sovereignty threats in the Indo-Pacific, China’s defence ministry warned on Saturday.
The ministry said the meeting was held to “promote the healthy, stable, and sustainable development of military relations between the two countries”.
In October, the Pentagon released footage of what it said were Chinese fighter jets shooting flares and discharging chaff while approaching US aircraft at high speeds.
Officials also evaluated the implementation of the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea since 2021, when the last MMCA meeting was held.
The working group’s annual meetings were put on hold in 2022 in the aftermath of a visit to Taiwan by then US House speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to arming Taiwan.
In the talks in Honolulu this week, China said it was committed to promoting “regional peace, stability, and prosperity”, but also highlighted concerns over security and sovereignty, the Chinese ministry said.
The Chinese delegation “pointed out that the safety of ships and aircraft is inseparable from national security, and China firmly opposes any actions that jeopardise China’s sovereignty and security under the pretext of freedom of navigation and overflight”.
“[The PLA] will continue to respond to any dangerous and provocative actions in accordance with the law and regulations” to defend its maritime interests, the ministry said.
The warning came after US delegation head Colonel Ian Francis of the Indo-Pacific Command said the US would continue to operate in the region “wherever international law allows”.
Francis said the MMCA working group was the US Indo-Pacific Command’s main way of discussing air and maritime operational safety directly with the PLA.
“We are encouraged that the PLA is honouring its commitments to the MMCA working group and look forward to future productive discussions to safeguard the safety of our military operators in the region,” he said.
Meanwhile, the defence chiefs of the US, Japan, Australia and the Philippines said in a joint statement on Saturday that the nations would conduct a full-scale joint naval exercise together in the South China Sea for the first time.
They said the “maritime cooperative activity” would be held on Sunday to show a “collective commitment to strengthen regional and international cooperation in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific”.