The world has to deal with China’s militarization of the South China Sea for now, but Beijing would face “larger consequences” in the long term that could persuade it to change track, US Secretary of Defense James Mattis said yesterday.
Beijing’s deployment of missile batteries and bombers to outposts in disputed areas appear aimed at intimidating its neighbors, Mattis told delegates at the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
Such moves had caused the US to reconsider its “cooperative stance” and disinvite China from the Rim of the Pacific Exercise later this month, he added.
Photo: Bloomberg
That was a relatively small penalty for China to pay and the region would be “dealing with the reality” of its territorial claims over a vital global shipping route, Mattis said.
“I believe there are much larger consequences in the future, when nations lose the rapport of their neighbors,” Mattis told reporters after his speech.
He also attacked what he said were excessive loans made under China’s Belt and Road Initiative that were binding smaller nations in debt.
“Eventually, these things do not pay off, even if on the financial ledger sheet or the power ledger sheet they appear to,” he said. “It’s a very shaky foundation when we believe that militarizing features are somehow going to endorse their standing in the world.”
Mattis’ comments appeared to reaffirm the US’ commitment to Asia’s security, even as US President Donald Trump’s decisions to levy tariffs on allies and withdraw from international agreements have raised questions about its post-World War II alliances.
Challenged from the floor of the conference by several delegates, Mattis gave a forceful defense of the US’ commitment to its allies in the region, stretching back to former US president Thomas Jefferson.
“We have seen those who wanted to dominate the region come and go, and we have been with you,” Mattis said. “It’s not based on which party is in power.”
The Philippines has already sought accommodation with China over its South China Sea claims, but US House Committee on Armed Services Chairman Mac Thornberry told reporters he believes that attitudes to China in the region are hardening.
“It’s clear to me from the conversations I’ve had, not just the past week, but beyond, that China’s actions are increasingly alienating many countries, because they threaten the ability of countries to determine their own future, to provide for their people,” Thornberry said. “I think the larger trend is that countries are coming together to say this is unacceptable.”
In an exchange with Mattis, Senior Colonel Zhao Xiaozhuo (趙小卓), deputy director of the Center on China-US Defense Relations in China’s Academy of Military Science, said that sending warships into Chinese territorial waters was a violation of the nation’s law.
“Mattis’ speech was negative,” Zhao said. “If China’s islands and reefs are continuously threatened by activities under the name of so-called freedom of navigation, China will eventually station troops on these reefs.”
“We did not do freedom of navigation for America alone,” Mattis said. “We do freedom of navigation, give freedom for all nations, large and small, that need to transit those waters for their own prosperity and they have every reason to do so.”
Beijing sent a relatively low-level delegation to this year’s forum, where the US and its allies dominate. No Chinese official was scheduled to give the traditional Sunday speech, in what had become an outlet for a riposte to the US speech the day before.
GEARING UP: An invasion would be difficult and would strain China’s forces, but it has conducted large-scale training supporting an invasion scenario, the report said China increased its military pressure on Taiwan last year and took other steps in preparation for a potential invasion, an annual report published by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday showed. “Throughout 2023, Beijing continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics against Taiwan,” the report said, which is titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2024.” The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the PRC by force, if perceived as necessary by Beijing, while simultaneously deterring, delaying or denying
PEACEFUL RESOLUTION: A statement issued following a meeting between Australia and Britain reiterated support for Taiwan and opposition to change in the Taiwan Strait Canada should support the peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s destiny according to the will of Taiwanese, Canadian lawmakers said in a resolution marking the second anniversary of that nation’s Indo-Pacific strategy on Monday. The Canadian House of Commons committee on Canada-Chinese relations made the comment as part of 34 recommendations for the new edition of the strategy, adding that Ottawa should back Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, first published in October 2022, emphasized that the region’s security, trade, human rights, democracy and environmental protection would play a crucial role in shaping Canada’s future. The strategy called for Canada to deepen
QUICK LOOK: The amendments include stricter recall requirements and Constitutional Court procedures, as well as a big increase in local governments’ budgets Portions of controversial amendments to tighten requirements for recalling officials and Constitutional Court procedures were passed by opposition lawmakers yesterday following clashes between lawmakers in the morning, as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members tried to block Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators from entering the chamber. Parts of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) and Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法) passed the third reading yesterday. The legislature was still voting on various amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) as of press time last night, after the session was extended to midnight. Amendments to Article 4
‘ONE BRIDGE’: The US president-elect met with Akie Abe on Dec. 15 in Florida and the two discussed a potential Taiwan-China conflict’s implications for world peace US president-elect Donald Trump has described Taiwan as “a major issue for world peace” during a meeting with Akie Abe, the widow of late Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, Japanese newspaper the Yomiuri Shimbun quoted sources as saying in a report yesterday. Trump met with Akie Abe on Dec. 15 at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where the two discussed the Russo-Ukrainian war and the situation in the Taiwan Strait. During the meeting, Trump spoke on the implications for world peace of a potential Taiwan-China conflict, which “indicated his administration’s stance of placing importance on dealing with the situation in
RSS