US: China must stop eroding neighbors’ sovereignty

SINGAPORE – The US yesterday warned China against threatening its neighbors’ sovereignty and said Washington was investing in new military technology in the next five years to keep Asia stable.

Washington and Beijing have been vying for influence in the region, which hosts potential flashpoints such as the South China Sea, the Korean Peninsula and the Taiwan Strait.

Ties between the two powers are once again taking center stage at the weekend Singapore conference known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, which gathers defense ministers and top military officials from around the world.

While the forum is purely on security, the discussions are also being held against a backdrop of Sino-US trade tensions and high-tech rivalry.

“China can and should have a cooperative relationship with the rest of the region... But behavior that erodes other nations’ sovereignty and sows distrust of China’s intentions must end,” acting US Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan told the forum.

“Until it does, we stand against a myopic, narrow and parochial vision of the future, and we stand for the free and open order that has benefitted us all, including China,” Shanahan added.

Washington has been pushing back against Beijing’s aggressive militarization of the South China Sea, where China rejects the conflicting territorial claims of Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Beijing is also regularly angered by US warships transiting through the Taiwan Strait, which it considers part of its territorial waters.

Without naming any country, Shanahan referred to nations using a “toolkit of coercion” to destabilize the region, including “deploying advanced weapons systems to militarize disputed areas” and “promoting state-sponsored theft of other nations’ military and civilian technology.”

For the first time since 2011, China has sent its defense minister Gen. Wei Fenghe to the Singapore gathering. Wei is scheduled to speak today during which he is expected to respond to Shanahan’s remarks.

Shanahan said the US was investing heavily in new military technology to combat fresh threats and maintain its superiority and capability to defend its Asian allies.

He said North Korea “remains an extraordinary threat and requires continued vigilance” and stressed Washington would continue to meet its defense obligations to Taiwan, which China sees as part of its territory to be reunified.

“The Indo-Pacific is our priority theater. We are where we belong. We are investing in the region,” he added.

Over the next five years, the Pentagon would invest “significantly” in programs needed to ensuring regional stability, according to Shanahan.

“When we talk about preparedness, we mean having the right capabilities in the right places to respond to crises, and to compete with and deter high-end adversaries,” the Pentagon chief said.