US Secretary of Defense James Mattis yesterday said that North Korea poses a global threat and praised China’s efforts to influence Pyongyang, while also criticizing Beijing over its continued “militarization” of the South China Sea.
US President Donald Trump — who frequently denounced China on the campaign trail — has turned to Beijing to help rein in North Korea’s weapons program, prompting concerns among Asian allies that the US might go easy on the South China Sea issue.
Calling North Korea’s nuclear ambitions a “threat to us all,” Mattis said the international community must work together.
Photo: EPA
“It is therefore imperative that we do our part each of us to fulfill our obligations and work together to support our shared goal of denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula,” Mattis said in a policy speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
Pyongyang on Monday test-fired another rocket, the latest in a series of launches and atomic tests that have ratcheted up tensions over its quest to develop weapons capable of hitting the US — something Trump has said “won’t happen.”
“The Trump administration is encouraged by China’s renewed commitment to work with the international community toward denuclearization,” Mattis said.
The defense chief spoke directly to concerns that the US might grant concessions to China to ensure its cooperation on North Korea, saying the issue was not “binary” and that the US would continue to pressure Beijing elsewhere.
“The scope and effect of China’s construction activities in the South China Sea differ from those of other countries in several key ways,” Mattis said.
“This includes the nature of its militarization... China’s disregard for international law... [and] its contempt for other nations’ interests,” he added.
The US Navy on May 25 conducted a “freedom of navigation” operation in the South China Sea, when the USS Dewey guided-missile destroyer sailed within 12 nautical miles (22.22km) of Mischief Reef (Meiji Reef, 美濟礁) in the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島).
China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, despite partial counter-claims from Taiwan and several southeast Asian nations.
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
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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