Hagel spars with China over territorial disputes

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SINGAPORE (AP) — China’s aggressive moves to claim
jurisdiction over land and sky in the Asia-Pacific risk undermining
peace and security in the region and beyond, U.S. Defense Secretary
Chuck Hagel said Saturday. Beijing scoffed at the "groundless" charges.
Hagel
told an international security conference that the United States "will
not look the other way" when China and others try to restrict navigation
or ignore international rules and standards.
China’s territorial
claims in the South China Sea are destabilizing the region, he said,
adding that Beijing’s failure to resolve such disputes threatens East
Asia’s long-term progress.
A Chinese general took issue with
Hagel’s comments, saying that "although I do think that those criticisms
are groundless, I do appreciate your candor."
Lt. Gen. Wang
Guanzhong, deputy chief of the General Staff, told Hagel during a brief
meeting after the defense secretary’s speech, "You were very candid this
morning and, to be frank, more than our expectation."
Reporters
were taken from the meeting room before Hagel responded. But Pentagon
press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby said Hagel told Wang that all
regional disputes should be solved through diplomacy, and Hagel
encouraged China to foster dialogue with neighboring nations.
As
he did in 2013, Hagel used his appearance at the Shangri-La conference
to single out China for cyberspying against the U.S. While this has been
a persistent complaint by the U.S., it was less than two weeks after
the Obama administration charged five Chinese military officers with
hacking into American companies to steal trade secrets.
The
Chinese, in response, suspended participation in a U.S.-China Cyber
Working Group, and released a report that said the U.S. is conducting
unscrupulous cyberespionage and that China is a major target.
Noting
the suspension, Hagel said the U.S. will continue to raise cyberissues
with the Chinese "because dialogue is essential for reducing the risk of
miscalculation and escalation in cyberspace."
In comments aimed
directly at China, Hagel said the U.S. opposes any country’s use of
intimidation or threat of force to assert territorial claims.
"All
nations of the region, including China, have a choice: to unite, and
recommit to a stable regional order, or, to walk away from that
commitment and risk the peace and security that has benefited millions
of people throughout the Asia-Pacific, and billions of people around the
world," he said.
China and Japan have been at odds over
uninhabited islands in the East China Sea that are controlled by Japan
but claimed by both.
The U.S. has declined to take sides, but has
made clear it has a treaty obligation to support Japan. The U.S. also
has refused to recognize China’s declaration of an air defense zone over
a large swath of the East China Sea, including the disputed islands.
In
response, Maj. Gen. Yao Yunzhu of China’s People’s Liberation Army
questioned whether the U.S. and its allies followed international law
and consulted with others whey they set up air defense zones.
Yao,
director of the Center for China-America Defense Relations at the PLA’s
Academy of Military Science, also challenged how the U.S. can say it is
not taking a position on the island sovereignty issue, while still
saying it is committed to its treaty obligation to support Japan.
Hagel said the U.S. and allies consulted with its neighbors and, unlike China, did not unilaterally set
up air defense zones.
While
the two public exchanges with the Chinese officials were sharp, a
senior U.S. defense official described Hagel’s private meeting with Wang
as fairly amicable.
The official, who was not authorized to
discuss the meeting publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said
Wang began by criticizing the speech, but also talked about increasing
military cooperation with the U.S. and the two nations’ trade
relationship.
The official said Wang indicated China was looking
forward to participating in a major military exercise in the Pacific
with the U.S. and other nations later this year.
U.S. officials
also have raised concerns about Beijing’s decision to place an oil rig
in part of the South China Sea also claimed by Vietnam. The move has led
to a series of clashes between the two nations in the waters around the
rig, including the recent sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat.
Chinese leaders have blamed the Obama administration’s new focus on Asia for emboldening some of the
disputes.
But
some Asian leaders have expressed worries that the U.S. is doing little
more than paying lip service to the complaints, fueling doubts about
America’s commitment to the region.
In an effort to address those
concerns, Hagel also used his speech to reassure Asia-Pacific nations
that despite persistent budget woes and increasing demands for military
aid across Africa and Europe, the U.S. was strongly committed to Asia.
Allies
have questioned how serious the U.S. is about its renewed focus on
Asia, particularly as the recent unrest in Ukraine and terrorist threats
in North Africa have garnered more attention. Also, President Barack
Obama’s national security speech this past week made no mention of the
Asia-Pacific.
"The rebalance is not a goal, not a promise or a vision — it is a reality," Hagel said.
He
laid out a list of moves the U.S. has made to increase troops, ships
and military assets in the region, provide missile defense systems to
Japan, sell sophisticated drones and other aircraft to Korea, and expand
defense cooperation with Australia, New Zealand and India.
___
Online:
Security conference: https://www.iiss.org/en/events/shangri-s-la-s-dialogue

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