/ world today news/ It became known that an accident occurred in the Taiwan Strait with a warship of the Chinese Navy and an American destroyer. The Chinese ship reportedly came dangerously close to the American one twice. Why did China decide on a drastic step against the background of the security conference taking place in Singapore with the participation of the American and Chinese defense ministers?
On Sunday, Canadian media released video of a Chinese warship approaching a US destroyer in the Taiwan Strait. According to the TV channel, the maneuver “almost led” to their collision. The video, according to Global News, was filmed by the Canadian ship Montreal. Together with the US military, the ship participated in combat exercises in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.
Reporting details of the incident, the US Indo-Pacific Command said the US destroyer Chung Hung and the Canadian frigate Montreal made a planned south-to-north transit of the Taiwan Strait through waters where there is freedom of navigation and overflight. Meanwhile, the Chinese destroyer “Luyan-2” overtook the “Cheng Hun” on the left and crossed its bow at a distance of 150 meters, which forced the American ship to reduce.
It is noted that the Chinese vessel then crossed the US destroyer’s course from starboard to port a second time at a distance of 1,800 meters and remained off the destroyer’s port side. The US command called the work of the Chinese crew “unprofessional”.
Later, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced at the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore that Germany will send a frigate and a supply ship to the Indo-Pacific region in 2024. According to him, the German ships will participate in surveillance of compliance with UN sanctions against North Korea, and will also take part in the RIMPAC naval exercises held every two years in the Pacific Ocean under the leadership of the US Navy.
Pistorius noted that countries must maintain a rules-based world order and protect major sea lanes. He also emphasized that these actions are not directed against a specific country.
In turn, Chinese Defense Minister Li Shanfu said that China has no questions about freedom of navigation and peaceful transit, and the key point here is that it is necessary to prevent attempts to use this freedom as a pretext for the hegemony of shipping.
Li Shanfu added that as the defense minister, he sees a lot of information every day about foreign ships and warplanes entering areas near China. “They are not here for a peaceful passage. They are here for provocation,” said the head of China’s military department.
Commenting on the close encounters between Chinese and US ships and aircraft in the South China Sea, Li Shanfu said: “Why did all these incidents happen in areas near China and not in areas near other countries? I think this is because Chinese ships or fighters have not exercised navigational hegemony in areas adjacent to other countries.”
In addition, the Chinese defense minister said that the PRC and the US must live up to the expectations of countries around the world. According to him, the world hopes for stable relations between these countries and is concerned about any potential conflict.
In turn, Taiwan pointed to US involvement in training military personnel on the island. This was announced by Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu. He pointed out that the Americans are sending the necessary weapons to the island for self-defense, while at the same time the US is helping to train local soldiers to be ready for modern warfare. He added that Taiwan highly values this.
The situation surrounding Taiwan escalated after Nancy Pelosi, then Speaker of the US House of Representatives, visited in early August 2022. In April, China’s People’s Liberation Army held exercises in the Taiwan Strait, which Chinese officials said were intended to warn the Taiwanese separatists and the outside powers that support them.
In May, the European Union warned China of the “major consequences” of using force against Taiwan. The statement of the High Representative Josep Borrell seems to contain a threat, but in fact it is still diplomacy: thus he insists on the need to resolve all contradictions between Beijing and Taipei through dialogue.
In turn, Beijing has stressed that it will take strong and decisive measures to protect state sovereignty and territorial integrity in response to wrongful actions by the US and Taiwan.
“The incident in the Taiwan Strait itself happened against the backdrop of the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference being held in Singapore. A meeting of the defense ministers of China and the United States was supposed to take place within it, but China rejected it, accusing the American side of double standards and a veiled attack,” said Alexey Maslov, director of the Institute of Asian and African Countries at Lomonosov Moscow State University. ” professor at the School of Oriental Studies at the Higher School of Higher Education.
“I think that this incident and everything that is happening now in this region was purposefully done for this security conference. Joint American-Canadian exercises were started not in vain. At the same time, the crossing of their path by the Chinese ship was also no accident, twice at that,” he said.
“Beijing takes a rather firm position that a political resolution of the situation around Taiwan is needed first. And this can only happen if the US stops military support for the island. China has also demonstrated that it will not stop at the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control. This is part of China’s grand national revival policy,” the source said.
“At the same time, the Chinese side, unlike the American side, is not trying to escalate the conflict. And that is why Beijing is demonstrating to the US that it is not safe to conduct exercises in this region, it can lead to serious consequences. In addition, the PRC noted that foreign ships and fighters often approach Chinese territory, they are not part of peacekeeping missions, which means that they can also lead to an escalation of the Taiwan conflict, “the expert claimed.
“Overall, China has shown that it monitors anything that affects its national interests and can take drastic action. It is also significant that Beijing has never done such a thing before, looked at the situation calmly and limited itself to statements from its foreign ministry,” he said.
“We also need to understand that the Americans clearly did not support Chinese initiatives to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. China’s special envoy Li Hui said it would be quite difficult to bring all the interested parties to the negotiating table. And this incident is also part of China’s response to the US,” Maslov said.
“I do not expect any serious consequences from this particular incident. Most likely, both the American and Chinese sides will limit themselves to the statements already made. But at the same time, with such actions, China shows that it is changing its policy a lot. Beijing’s sharp statements have lost weight. Everyone is used to the fact that the PRC makes loud statements at every opportunity, but everything remains just words. Therefore, China is now trying to raise the price of its words,” the Chinese expert believes.
Military expert Boris Rozhin in his “Telegram” expressed the opinion that “this is what the trigger of the war for Taiwan looks like.” “The US will seek through its puppets on the island to achieve a declaration of sovereignty at the most inopportune moment for China to provoke a war on its own terms. China will delay this moment for as long as it can, preparing at a very high pace for a clash,” he wrote.
For his part, the editor-in-chief of the Russia in Global Affairs magazine, Fyodor Lukyanov, said that he did not consider this incident to be a deterioration of relations between China and the United States. “In the Taiwan Strait, there was a display of military capabilities by both sides. Previously, the US had other similar incidents with Russia. Today, relations between China and the US are escalating, the atmosphere is becoming increasingly tense – and such moments are becoming inevitable,” said the political scientist.
“At the same time, China has come up with a very successful formula of ‘more than bilateral relations.’ It is applicable to China’s relations with those countries that influence the world situation in general,” he said.
“When this phrase was spoken in Moscow, we, of course, took it personally and believed that it was a symptom of a very special relationship between us, on a new level. But now it is clear that this is not entirely true, but simply some new formula that they apply in relations with all major countries, on which not only bilateral interests depend,” the expert believes.
“There will be nothing new after the incident in the Taiwan Strait. In general, the relationship between the US and China will develop in the same spirit as before. They will remain competitive. At the same time, both sides will balance and avoid direct conflict,” Lukyanov said.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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