US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates yesterday called for an international approach to resolving territorial disputes in the Pacific, despite China’s opposition to any multilateral deal brokered by Washington.
In remarks that appeared aimed at China, Gates said that “increasingly, we find that relying exclusively on bilateral relationships is not enough — we need multilateral institutions in order to confront the most important security challenges in the region.”
Key issues in Asia, including “territorial disputes,” could best be solved through “strong multilateral cooperation,” he said in a speech to military officers at Vietnam National University in Hanoi.
China favors handling the South China Sea issue bilaterally with individual claimants, while ASEAN members have called for negotiations on a “code of conduct” for all nations.
Gates, who is in Hanoi for the ASEAN defense ministers conference, said that Southeast Asian countries “sit astride key global trade routes,” and reiterated the US view on the importance of ensuring unfettered, safe access for global shipping.
“The US and Vietnam, as well as other nations in the region, also share a common interest in maritime security and freedom of access to the global commons,” he said.
Gates’ speech came hours before he met Chinese Minister of National Defense General Liang Guanglie (梁光烈) in the first talks between the two nations’ top defense officials in about a year.
Gates has urged China to support a more reliable military dialogue that would not be “held hostage” to every disagreement over US policy.
Again without naming China, Gates spoke about the need to move beyond outlooks mired in the Cold War. He called for “discarding Cold War ways of thinking about US defense strategy and Asia’s overall security architecture — a mindset that doesn’t reflect the past few decades’ tremendous challenges.”
After his meeting with Liang, the US secretary said he had been invited to visit China and he had accepted, although the timing of the trip had to be worked out. He said the talks were “constructive” and represented “a good forward step.”
However, a senior Chinese official said after the meeting that Taiwan was the greatest hurdle in Sino-US defense ties.
“There still exists problems and obstacles in the development of military relations between China and the US, as pointed out by both [defense] secretaries,” said Rear Admiral Guan Youfei (關友飛), deputy head of external relations at China’s defense ministry.
“The biggest obstacle in defense relations between the US and China is US arms sales to Taiwan,” Guan said.
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a