China’s Li says clash with US would bring ‘unbearable disaster’

Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu has said Beijing seeks dialogue over confrontation with the United States, warning that any conflict between the two nations would bring “unbearable disaster for the world”.

Speaking at Asia’s top security summit, the Shangri-La Dialogue, Li said on Sunday that the world was big enough for China and the US to grow together.“China and the US have different systems and are different in many other ways,” he said in a speech that marked his first significant international address since he was named defence minister in March.

“However, this should not keep the two sides from seeking common ground and common interests to grow bilateral ties and deepen cooperation,” he said.

“It is undeniable that a severe conflict or confrontation between China and the US will be an unbearable disaster for the world.”

Ties between Washington and Beijing are badly strained over a range of issues, including democratically ruled Taiwan, territorial disputes in the South China Sea and US President Joe Biden’s restrictions on semiconductor chip exports.In their latest row, the US military on Saturday alleged that the Chinese navy carried out “unsafe manoeuvres” near a US destroyer transiting the sensitive Taiwan Strait, while Beijing accused Washington of provoking risks and undermining peace and stability in the region by encouraging “pro-independence forces” in Taipei.

Earlier in the day, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told the meeting in Singapore that Washington was “deeply committed” to preserving the status quo in self-ruled Taiwan that Beijing claims as its own territory.

He also rebuked China for refusing to hold military talks, leaving the superpowers deadlocked over their differences.

“I am deeply concerned that the PRC [People’s Republic of China] has been unwilling to engage more seriously on better mechanisms for crisis management between our two militaries,” Austin told the meeting in Singapore.

“The more that we talk, the more that we can avoid the misunderstandings and miscalculations that could lead to crisis or conflict.”He added that Washington would not “flinch in the face of bullying or coercion” from China and would continue regularly sailing through and flying over the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea to emphasise they are international waters, countering Beijing’s sweeping territorial claims in the region.

Li, whom the US sanctioned in 2018 over weapon purchases from Russia, shook hands with Austin at a dinner on Friday, but the two have not had a deeper discussion, despite Washington’s repeated demands for more military exchanges.

Li’s speech at the Singapore meeting was more restrained, although he accused the US and others of “meddling in China’s internal affairs” by providing Taiwan with defence support and training and conducting high-level diplomatic visits.

“China stays committed to the path of peaceful development, but we will never hesitate to defend our legitimate rights and interests, let alone sacrifice the nation’s core interests,” he said.

Li, dressed in the uniform of a general in China’s People’s Liberation Army, also took thinly veiled digs at the US, accusing “some countries” of intensifying an arms race and wilfully interfering in the internal affairs of others.