On Sunday, Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu warned against the formation of NATO-style military alliances in the Asia-Pacific region, saying such an alliance would create a “maelstrom” of strife.
His remarks come a day after US and Chinese military ships passed near the Taiwan Strait.
This event has sparked outrage on both sides.
"Countries should manage their own warships and aircraft well," Chinese State Councilor and Minister of National Defense Li Shangfu said on Sunday at the Shangri-La Dialogue in response to a question about the alleged interception and expulsion of U.S. military aircraft and… pic.twitter.com/Dv8GeC5Wgw
— Zhang Heqing (@zhang_heqing) June 4, 2023
“Attempts to form NATO-like alliances in the Asia-Pacific region are a means of kidnapping regional states and inciting conflicts and confrontations,” Li warned at a security conference in Singapore.
In his first big address as China’s defense minister, he claimed conflict with the US would be a “unbearable disaster” for the globe.
General Li Shangfu stated at a security gathering that “some countries” were escalating an arms race in Asia.
However, he stated that the globe was large enough for both China and the United States, and that the two nations should seek common ground.
Previously, the US accused a Chinese vessel of making “unsafe” maneuvers near a US warship in the Taiwan Strait.
Related: In the Taiwan Strait, a Chinese warship nearly collides with a US destroyer
Lloyd Austin, the United States Secretary of Defense, is also attending this meeting.
The US military claimed on Saturday that a Chinese destroyer maneuvered “in an unsafe manner” near an American cruiser while transiting the Taiwan Strait with Canadian warships.
Chinese fighter jet flies close to US military plane
