The U.S. official said that the actions of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) reflect recent statements by Chinese officials suggesting that Beijing may change the status quo regarding Taiwan, a democratically controlled island that China claims sovereignty. “Minister Austin also expressed concern about … statements by PLA officials that the Taiwan Straits are not international waters. [People’s Republic of China] “Officials have said this many times in the United States in recent months and this is deeply worrying,” he said. Reacting specifically to US statements in a post-meeting briefing, a Chinese military spokesman said it was not Beijing that was overturning a decades-old policy of stability in the Taiwan Straits. “It is not the mainland that is changing the status quo, it is the Taiwanese independence forces … and the external forces that are trying to change the status quo,” Senior Colonel Wu Qian told a news conference after the meeting. A Chinese statement from the meeting said Wei had specifically pointed to a recently announced $ 120 million arms sale to the island. The new arms sale will cover “spare parts for naval vessels and related technical assistance,” Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense said on Thursday. “The United States has again announced arms sales to Taiwan, which has severely undermined China’s sovereignty and security interests. China strongly opposes and strongly condemns this,” the statement said. The Taiwan issue occupied most of the meeting between Austin and Wei, the US official said.
Ukraine
Russia’s war against Ukraine has also proved to be a controversial issue. Austin urged his Chinese counterpart not to provide any material support to Russia, the US official said. In a press conference after the China meeting, Wu stressed that China had not done so. “China has not provided military assistance to Russia. That is for sure,” Wu said. Despite these differences, Wu described the meeting, which lasted almost an hour, almost twice as long as planned, as a “good effect”. “It was ‘honest,’ but ‘positive and constructive,’” he said. The meeting took place during Austin’s fourth trip to the Indo-Pacific region at the official request of the Chinese military leadership. The two also spoke of the US desire to establish stronger lines of communication between the two militaries to avoid turning rivalry between two world powers into a conflict. The official said that Minister Wei responded to the idea of creating crisis communication mechanisms, indicating that there may be more concrete results on these mechanisms later this year. “I would expect there to be additional open channels, including military-to-military channels, either by INDOPACOM or by the President [of the Joint Chiefs]. “I think both sides are probably open to this in the coming months,” the official said. Ahead of the meeting, a U.S. defense official said Washington would try to establish lines of communication at the highest levels of the military as a mechanism to avoid situations that could lead to a clash between the two Pacific powers. The U.S. also wants to see mechanisms for communication between administrators at the theater level, officials said. “This was a priority for us in the defense relationship,” the official said. Wu, the Chinese spokesman, said the next steps in the US-China relationship would include exchanges and talks on co-operation through both military and diplomatic channels. “The Chinese side believes that it is better to meet than not to meet and it is better to talk than not to talk,” he said. CNN’s Eric Cheung contributed to this report.
title: “Shangri La Dialogue Us Chinese Defense Chiefs Negotiate Weights For Taiwan In First Face To Face Meeting " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-13” author: “Darlene Land”
The U.S. official said that the actions of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) reflect recent statements by Chinese officials suggesting that Beijing may change the status quo regarding Taiwan, a democratically controlled island that China claims sovereignty. “Minister Austin also expressed concern about … statements by PLA officials that the Taiwan Straits are not international waters. [People’s Republic of China] “Officials have said this many times in the United States in recent months and this is deeply worrying,” he said. Reacting specifically to US statements in a post-meeting briefing, a Chinese military spokesman said it was not Beijing that was overturning a decades-old policy of stability in the Taiwan Straits. “It is not the mainland that is changing the status quo, it is the Taiwanese independence forces … and the external forces that are trying to change the status quo,” Senior Colonel Wu Qian told a news conference after the meeting. A Chinese statement from the meeting said Wei had specifically pointed to a recently announced $ 120 million arms sale to the island. The new arms sale will cover “spare parts for naval vessels and related technical assistance,” Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense said on Thursday. “The United States has again announced arms sales to Taiwan, which has severely undermined China’s sovereignty and security interests. China strongly opposes and strongly condemns this,” the statement said. The Taiwan issue occupied most of the meeting between Austin and Wei, the US official said.
Ukraine
Russia’s war against Ukraine has also proved to be a controversial issue. Austin urged his Chinese counterpart not to provide any material support to Russia, the US official said. In a press conference after the China meeting, Wu stressed that China had not done so. “China has not provided military assistance to Russia. That is for sure,” Wu said. Despite these differences, Wu described the meeting, which lasted almost an hour, almost twice as long as planned, as a “good effect”. “It was ‘honest,’ but ‘positive and constructive,’” he said. The meeting took place during Austin’s fourth trip to the Indo-Pacific region at the official request of the Chinese military leadership. The two also spoke of the US desire to establish stronger lines of communication between the two militaries to avoid turning rivalry between two world powers into a conflict. The official said that Minister Wei responded to the idea of creating crisis communication mechanisms, indicating that there may be more concrete results on these mechanisms later this year. “I would expect there to be additional open channels, including military-to-military channels, either by INDOPACOM or by the President [of the Joint Chiefs]. “I think both sides are probably open to this in the coming months,” the official said. Ahead of the meeting, a U.S. defense official said Washington would try to establish lines of communication at the highest levels of the military as a mechanism to avoid situations that could lead to a clash between the two Pacific powers. The U.S. also wants to see mechanisms for communication between administrators at the theater level, officials said. “This was a priority for us in the defense relationship,” the official said. Wu, the Chinese spokesman, said the next steps in the US-China relationship would include exchanges and talks on co-operation through both military and diplomatic channels. “The Chinese side believes that it is better to meet than not to meet and it is better to talk than not to talk,” he said. CNN’s Eric Cheung contributed to this report.
