Not a “thaw”: China cancels a meeting with US Secretary of Defense Austin. Reason are sanctions for arms deals with Russia.
Munich/Beijing – Just a few days ago, on the sidelines of the G7 summit, US President Joe Biden prophesied that relations between his country and China would soon find themselves in calmer waters. “I think we’re going to see the start of a thaw soon,” said the 80-year-old in Hiroshima, Japan.
There have actually been some signs of this recently, such as a meeting between China’s top diplomat Wang Yi and Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan in Vienna. Biden also stated, the affair about the “stupid” alleged spy balloon from China, which was shot down by the US earlier this year, to leave behind. The posse had further soured the already strained relations between the two superpowers.
Part of this new “detente policy” should be a meeting between US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart, General Li Shangfu, later this week. At the beginning of May, Washington asked for the two politicians to meet on the sidelines of the Shangri-La security dialogue, which takes place in Singapore from Friday to Sunday. But nothing will come of it: As the Pentagon announced on Monday, China had “rejected” the invitation to a meeting.
China blames the US for the scandal
On Tuesday, China’s Foreign Ministry blamed Washington for the diplomatic scandal. “The US knows exactly why the Sino-US military dialogue is encountering difficulties,” spokeswoman Mao Ning said in Beijing. The US, Mao said, should “immediately correct its wrong practices, show sincerity, and create the necessary atmosphere and conditions for dialogue and communication between the two militaries.”
The background to Beijing’s furor are sanctions that the United States imposed on Li in 2018. At the time, the current Secretary of Defense, as head of the People’s Liberation Army’s weapons development department, was targeted by the United States for arms deals with Russia. According to the Pentagon, these sanctions would not prevent a meeting with Austin, but Beijing apparently sees this differently.
Taiwan, chips war, Ukraine: Tensions between China and the USA are increasing
“At a time of rising tensions between the US and China, General Li’s refusal to meet with his American counterpart will strain regional nerves even more,” Reuters news agency quoted security expert Ian Storey of the Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore as saying.
Tensions between the two countries have recently been caused, among other things, by US export restrictions on high-tech semiconductors to China. Beijing accuses the United States of maliciously obstructing the country’s development. “Western countries, above all the United States, are pursuing a comprehensive containment and suppression of China, which is hindering the country’s development to an unprecedented extent,” said the head of state and party Xi Jinping in March.
In the West, Beijing’s tough stance on the Taiwan conflict is causing concern. China regards the democratically governed island state as part of its own national territory and threatens to unite Taiwan with the mainland by force if necessary. Also China’s pro-Russian stance in the Ukraine war exacerbates tensions. A “peace initiative” by China’s special envoy Li Hui ended last week without result. While Li was campaigning in Europe for an end to hostilities, Xi Jinping met with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in Beijing and advocated deepening economic relations between the two countries. (sh)
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