SINGAPORE — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told a summit of top security officials Saturday that the war with china was neither imminent nor inevitable, despite the rapid escalation of tensions in the Asia-Pacific region.
Likewise, he highlighted the importance of resuming dialogue with his counterpart in Beijing to avoid “miscalculations and misunderstandings.”
Austin’s remarks at the Shangri-La defense forum in Singapore came a day after meeting for more than an hour with Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun. It was his first in-person meeting since Washington’s military and Beijing cut off their communication in 2022 after the visit to Taiwan of the then speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, which infuriated the Chinese authorities.
Neither side has changed its long-standing position on Taiwan — that China claims part of its territory and has not ruled out using force to take it — or on Beijing’s extensive claims in the South China Sea, which have led to in direct clashes between the Asian giant and other countries in the region, especially the Philippines.
Although he did not offer the details of the meeting, Austin said that the important thing was that both leaders reopened the dialogue.
“As we are talking we will be able to identify the issues that are problematic and make sure that we have put up barriers to ensure that there are no misperceptions or miscalculations … that can get out of control,” he said.
“These types of things can only be done if there is dialogue,” Austin added.
Speaking at the forum on Friday the day before, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. directly stated what could be at stake. He stated that if a Filipino is killed during a confrontation between China and its coast guard or its merchant fleet to press its claims in the South China Sea, it would be “very, very close to what we define as an act of war and, therefore, “We would respond accordingly.”
Dong is scheduled to speak at the conference on Sunday morning.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has been pressing his Western allies to send more air defense systems to the country, arrived unannounced at the summit on Saturday afternoon and will participate in a roundtable on Sunday.
Source: AP
