A spokesman for the Chinese Defense Ministry on Thursday outlined “obstacles” that are preventing the resumption of high-level military talks between the US and China.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu both attended the Shangri-La Security Dialogue in Singapore back in June. Beijing declined to hold a meeting between Austin and Li, primarily due to US sanctions that are imposed on the Chinese defense chief.
The US sanctioned Li in 2018, when he was in a lower-level position, and has refused to lift the measures since he became defense minister. Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Col. Wu Qian outlined other issues impeding high-level military talks, including US support for Taiwan, and US military activity in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.
Wu noted that while there have not been talks at the defense minister level, there are other communications between the US and Chinese militaries. “I want to clarify that military-to-military communication between China and the United States has not stopped,” he said at a press briefing, according to The South China Morning Post.
Wu said that Gen. Xu Qiling, deputy chief of China’s Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission, attended a recent US-hosted military conference in Fiji, the 25th annual Indo-Pacific Chiefs of Defense. While at the conference, which took place from August 14-16, Xu met with his American counterparts.
But Wu said that there were a series of “difficulties and obstacles” preventing talks between Austin and Li, including new forms of military aid the US recently approved for Taiwan, which is unprecedented since Washington severed diplomatic relations with Taipei in 1979.
The US has always sold weapons to Taiwan but has never financed the purchases or provided them free of charge until this year. China is opposed to all US arms sales to Taiwan, and the new military aid especially angers Beijing.
Addressing US military activity in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait, Wu said the US should “mind its own business.”
“China urges the US to stop its military provocations to prevent any extreme events that the world doesn’t want to see happening. We can only have communication and dialogue that is in line with our principles and does not go against our bottom lines,” he said.
Dave, Another funny article! “China Outlines ‘Obstacles’ to Resuming High-Level Military Talks With US.” The Chinese are so polite! …How polite? They describe our actual preparations for war against them as “Obstacles to Resuming Talks!” (Sarcasm)
The only obstacles to peace in the world today are the US and Israel. Everything else is a mosquito bite.
China has redrawn their map of China and it has pissed all of their neighbors off
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/08/31/india/india-china-map-protest-intl-hnk/index.html
That map was drawn by the Nationalists when they controlled China, and we agreed to it. Same map. We just don’t like the people now waving it around.
We did in fact not just accept that map, but had China accept the surrender of Japanese forces within that mapped zone of the South China Sea, including a Japanese sub base on the now-disputed islets.
The primary obstacles to peace and prosperity in these United States are the Neocons / MIC who worship a violent, vengeful desert god. And, for some bizarre reason, they must not be identified for who they are and what they are doing.
Perhaps one day the rest of the world including the many members of Brics will sanction the US for its human rights violations.
I( am not sure the Neocons have the power to affect peace and PROSPERITY in the US.
When the point man of the Defense establishment can’t get his head out of his arse, how can he expect a sensible dialog with his Chinese counterpart?
They forgot to include the biggest obstacles of all known as Jake Sullivan and Antony Blinken.
The biggest problem is Capitalism and American exceptionalism and White Supremacy.
Here’s our requirements:
Stop releasing new maps expanding your countries territory akin to WWI and II Germany.
Stop creating superior first offensive strike nuclear arsenals at a time of peace and prosperity for the world.
Stop leaking lab viruses and ensicking the world population because you lack proper knowledge and controls and blame local wet markets for it.
Stop interfering with our national elections and implanting Manchurian candidates like Donald Trump to steal our national and nuclear secret, then using it to build a military that can defeat us and start threating the planet and bullying other countries.
Times yours ass clowns. We aren’t going any where. Neither are the nuclear missiles they didn’t tell DJT about.
Unless the US de-weaponizes trade and dumps its war budget into infrastructure and education, the only “talks” that will be happening is Jinping’s ‘BRICS’ embossed shotgun through a pillow into Uncle Sam’s face.