(Washington) A US military official warned his Chinese counterpart against any “dangerous, coercive and potentially escalatory tactics” by Beijing in the South China Sea, during a video call.
Despite the many areas of friction currently between the two world’s leading powers – over trade, technological rivalry, tensions in the South China Sea and Taiwan – Beijing and Washington have both been trying to maintain a certain level of exchanges and meetings since last year.
On Tuesday, Chinese time, the two sides said that two senior Chinese and American military officials had a video call: Samuel Paparo, head of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan, head of the Chinese military’s Southern Theater Command.
Samuel Paparo “stressed the importance of maintaining lines of communication between the U.S. and Chinese militaries,” according to the statement released by his command.
“Such discussions between senior leaders help to clarify intentions and reduce the risks of misperception and misjudgment,” he also noted.
But he also cited China’s recent “dangerous interactions with U.S. allies.”
This is why he “urged the People’s Liberation Army (Chinese army, editor’s note) to reconsider its use of dangerous, coercive and potentially escalatory tactics in the South China Sea and elsewhere,” according to the statement.
“Questions of common interest”
The Chinese military’s Southern Theater Command is responsible for China’s military activities in the South China Sea, where Chinese ships have been involved in confrontations with Philippine vessels in recent months.
China claims, for historical reasons, almost all of the islets in the South China Sea, in the face of rival claims from other coastal countries (the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia).
Last week, it assured that it had defended “its rights” in a “legitimate” manner after yet another collision between its coast guard vessels and Philippine boats near a disputed reef in this maritime zone.
On the Chinese side, the transcript of Tuesday’s video call gave few details about the content of the conversation, saying only that “the two sides had an in-depth exchange of views on issues of common concern,” according to the Defense Ministry statement.
The exchange was the first of its kind since China suspended military communications between the two countries in retaliation for a 2022 visit to Taiwan by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
It comes two weeks after Jake Sullivan, the first White House national security adviser to visit China since 2016, visited Beijing. The three-day visit comes amid tensions between the country and key Asian allies of the United States, Japan, the Philippines and Taiwan.
“Freedom of navigation”
During this trip, Jake Sullivan was received by President Xi Jinping and had a one-on-one meeting with General Zhang Youxia, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, which focused in particular on Taiwan.
The two sides then agreed on a forthcoming call between the heads of the commands of the two countries.
Jake Sullivan had stressed during his visit the importance of “freedom of navigation” in the South China Sea and “stability” in the Taiwan Strait which separates this island from mainland China.
General Zhang, in return, warned that Taiwan’s status constituted “the first red line that cannot be crossed in Sino-US relations.”
“China demands that the United States end all military collusion with Taiwan, stop arming Taiwan, and stop spreading false news related to Taiwan,” he said.
He also called on Washington to “work with China to promote communication and exchanges between the two militaries.”