China's former Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai attends the Lanting Forum in Shanghai, China. Reuters File
China's former Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai attends the Lanting Forum in Shanghai, China. Reuters File
If high-level defence discussions between the two countries are to restart, the United States should scale back military installations near China as a show of “good faith,” a retired veteran Chinese diplomat said on Sunday in Singapore.
Cui Tiankai, a former ambassador to the US, said in an interview with Reuters before the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit that although the two forces still had channels of communication, he doubted there was enough political will to avert problems.
“Why are they coming all the way across the ocean? To our doorsteps?” Cui said of US naval and air force deployments close to China. “They’re getting too close to our territories, to our territorial waters before anything else.”
He added: “If people have such goodwill and if people act in good faith, they could always find effective ways of communication.”
Following Li Shangfu, China’s Minister of National Defence, who warned at the Singapore conference that war between China and the United States would result in “unbearable disaster,” Cui made his remarks.
When Li was given the chance to meet alone with US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Singapore conference, which was scheduled to finish on Sunday, she declined.
Austin called for the continuation of senior conversation in a speech on Saturday, saying it was “not a reward, but a necessity.”
Despite tensions over Taiwan, the disputed East and South China Seas, worries about the likelihood of errors in judgement and accidents, and despite both officials’ statements that they were open to negotiations, regional diplomats said there is no clear indication.
Those risks were highlighted during the weekend as China’s military criticised the United States and Canada for “deliberately provoking risk” after the countries’ navies staged a rare joint sailing through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Saturday.
Li, who was named minister in March, remains under US sanctions that were imposed in 2018 after a weapons deal with Russia.
US deployments near China, Cui said, were “certainly disrespect of other countries’ sovereignty and territorial integrity and to be more specific, they always prefer unilateral sanctions.”
He said that he nonetheless remained optimistic about relations between the two countries.
“I hope things will improve in the coming months and years,” he said. “As a matter of principle, we are always ready for more dialogue with others, including with the United States.”
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