A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders.
Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control.
Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference.
Photo: AFP / Philippine Coast Guard
Paparo “underscored the importance of sustained lines of communication between the US military and the PLA,” a statement from his command said.
“Such discussions between senior leaders serve to clarify intent and reduce the risk of misperception or miscalculation,” he said.
He also raised “unsafe interactions with US allies” by the Chinese side.
Paparo “urged the PLA to reconsider its use of dangerous, coercive, and potentially escalatory tactics in the South China Sea and beyond,” the statement said.
Wu’s Southern Theater Command is responsible for the Beijing military’s activities in the South China Sea, where Chinese vessels have engaged in a series of high-profile confrontations with Philippine ships.
China claims almost all of the economically vital body of water despite competing claims from other nations and an international court ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.
Beijing this month said that it was defending its “rights” in the waters, after the Philippines released footage appearing to show a China Coast Guard vessel ramming one of its ships during an at-sea confrontation.
Beijing’s readout of the talks said that Wu held “an in-depth exchange of views” with his US counterpart.
The two officials discussed “issues of common concern,” it added.
The talks were the first of their kind since China scrapped military communications with the US in 2022 in response to then-US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
Yesterday’s high-level military dialogue between the geopolitical rivals comes on the heels of the first visit to China by a top White House aid since 2016.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan visited Beijing last month, where he held talks with senior army official Zhang Youxia (張又俠).
Sullivan’s meeting with Zhang saw the officials agree to hold a call between the two sides’ theater commanders, the White House said.
The top aide also raised the importance of “freedom of navigation” in the South China Sea and “stability” in the Taiwan Strait, Washington said.
Zhang, in turn, warned that the status of Taiwan was “the first red line that cannot be crossed in China-US relations.”
“China demands that the US halts military collusion with Taiwan, ceases arming Taiwan and stops spreading false narratives related to Taiwan,” Zhang said.
He also asked the US to “work with China to promote communication and exchanges between the two militaries and jointly shoulder the responsibilities of major powers.”
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and accompanying warships were in the Philippines yesterday after holding combat drills with Philippine forces in the disputed South China Sea in a show of firepower that would likely antagonize China. The Charles de Gaulle on Friday docked at Subic Bay, a former US naval base northwest of Manila, for a break after more than two months of deployment in the Indo-Pacific region. The French carrier engaged with security allies for contingency readiness and to promote regional security, including with Philippine forces, navy ships and fighter jets. They held anti-submarine warfare drills and aerial combat training on Friday in
RSS