White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Tuesday said the United States has significant concerns about China’s behaviour referring to its aggressive and assertive posture in the South China Sea region.
“We have significant concerns about China’s behaviour, particularly their coercive and aggressive behaviour for instance in the South China Sea in pursuing false maritime claims,” Kirby said. Kirby was responding to a question by Fox News’ White House correspondent Peter Doocy who asked if China is adhering to rules-based order.
Kirby also said that the US is concerned about instances of intellectual theft and unlawful trade practices.
He also said that the US believes there are other areas where Washington and Beijing have room for cooperation. “We believe there is room for cooperation with China and we want to be able to pursue that,” Kirby said, according to a report by ANI.
The NCS urged on keeping lines of communication open and said there should be scope for dialogue. He also said that “things are intense” referring to the US-China relationship.
Intelligence Support to India
The US refused to confirm news reports that claimed that it provided crucial intelligence to the Indian army in 2022 which helped the latter thwart China’s from assuming an assertive posture at the border.
When pressed regarding the news reports on Monday, Kirby said he cannot confirm or deny the report while holding the daily press briefing.
According to a report by US News and World Report, the US government for the first time provided India with real-time information regarding the Chinese positions and force strength ahead of incursions by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang Sector.
Hundreds of Indian and Chinese forces clashed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on December 9 last year.
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