[🇨🇳] China vs USA

[Saif]

US, China accuse each other of stoking regional tensions

Top US and Chinese officials exchanged warnings against stoking regional tensions during a meeting in Beijing yesterday after China became embroiled in security rows with American allies Japan and the Philippines.

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, making the first such trip by someone in his role since 2016, and Chinese top diplomat Wang Yi met in Beijing for talks that were meant to smooth over relations.

But after their meeting, state media reported that Wang cautioned Washington against supporting the Philippines in the disputed South China Sea.

"The United States must not use bilateral treaties as an excuse to undermine China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, nor should it support or condone the Philippines' actions of infringement," Wang told Sullivan, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Sullivan, who is US President Joe Biden's most senior security aide, doubled down on Washington's pledges to defend its regional partners.

"Mr Sullivan reaffirmed the United States' commitment to defending its Indo-Pacific allies," the White House said in a readout of their meeting.

Sullivan also "expressed concern about the PRC's destabilizing actions against lawful Philippine maritime operations in the South China Sea", it said, using an acronym for the People's Republic of China.

Sullivan landed in the Chinese capital on Tuesday for a three-day trip, saying on arrival he looked forward to "a very productive round of conversations" with foreign minister Wang.

The visit follows a summit between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in California in November 2023, and comes just over two months before elections in the United States.

But the meeting was shadowed by Washington's allies Japan and the Philippines blaming China in the past week for raising regional tensions.

Beijing said on Monday it had taken "control measures" against two Philippine Coast Guard ships that "illegally" entered an area of disputed reefs and waters.

Manila said the Chinese vessels had prevented Philippine ships from resupplying their own coast guard vessels in the area, blasting the move as "aggressive" and calling Beijing the "biggest disrupter" of peace in Southeast Asia.

According to CCTV, Wang emphasised to Sullivan that "China is firmly committed to safeguarding its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights over the South China Sea islands".

Tokyo meanwhile accused Beijing of violating its airspace on Monday, with a two-minute incursion by a surveillance aircraft off the Danjo Islands in the East China Sea.

It said the first confirmed incursion by a Chinese military aircraft into its airspace was a "serious violation" of its sovereignty and accused Beijing of becoming "increasingly active".

Sullivan and Wang have met five times over the past year-and-a-half -- in Washington, Vienna, Malta and Bangkok, as well as alongside US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a November 2023 summit in California.

The US and Chinese officials also discussed the tense issue of Taiwan, the self-governing democracy that China claims.

China has kept up its sabre-rattling since the inauguration this year of President Lai Ching-te, whose party emphasises Taiwan's separate identity.

Wang stressed that Taiwan belonged to Beijing and that China will "certainly be unified".

He told Sullivan that the US should "put into practice its commitment not to support Taiwan independence" and stop arming Taiwan, according to CCTV.

The White House said Sullivan "underscored the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait."

The US and Chinese officials also discussed issues including Ukraine, the Middle East and the Korean Peninsula, both sides said.

Sullivan had "emphasized concerns" about China's support for Russia's defence industry during Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, the White House said.

Wang countered that China was committed to "working towards a political solution to the Ukraine crisis" and warned Washington off imposing "illegal unilateral sanctions."​

 

[Saif]

Constructive talks held with China: US

US President Joe Biden is looking forward to talks with Xi Jinping in the “coming weeks”, top White House aide Jake Sullivan told the Chinese leader yesterday as they met for rare talks in Beijing.

www.thedailystar.net

Constructive talks held with China: US

US President Joe Biden is looking forward to talks with Xi Jinping in the "coming weeks", top White House aide Jake Sullivan told the Chinese leader yesterday as they met for rare talks in Beijing.

Sullivan, the first US national security advisor to visit China since 2016, met Xi as he wrapped up three days of talks in Beijing which also saw him sit down with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and other high-ranking officials.

His visit came as China was embroiled in security rows with US allies Japan and the Philippines.

Sullivan told Xi during a meeting yesterday in Beijing's ornate Great Hall of the People that Biden "looks forward to engaging with you again in the coming weeks".

"President Biden is committed to responsibly managing this consequential relationship to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict or confrontation, and to work together where our interests align," he said.

Chinese state media said Xi told Sullivan that in spite of "great changes", China and the US could still enjoy good ties.

"China's commitment to the goal of stable, healthy, and sustainable development of China-US relations hasn't changed," Xi said.

"We hope that the US will work with China to meet each other halfway," he added, according to CCTV.

Sullivan told reporters at the US embassy that the talks with Chinese officials had lasted for 14 hours, describing the discussions as "constructive, candid, substantive".

The Ukraine war came up during the talks, but Sullivan said that both sides had not reached "any particular plan".

"I can't say that we did make progress on that issue," he said.

The talks did not touch on the upcoming US election, but Sullivan said that Vice President Kamala Harris wanted to maintain "open lines of communication" with China.

On Wednesday, Sullivan and top diplomat Wang had discussed plans for their leaders to talk in the coming weeks.

They also clashed over China's increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions.

The officials agreed to hold a call between the two sides' theatre commanders "in the near future", a readout from the White House said.

Sullivan also raised the importance of "freedom of navigation" in the South China Sea, where China and the Philippines have clashed in recent months, and "stability" in the Taiwan Strait, Washington said.​

 

[Saif]

China sanctions 9 US defence firms in response to Taiwan sales

China imposed sanctions on nine US defence firms on Wednesday, the foreign ministry said, describing the measures as retaliation for Washington’s approval of military equipment sales to Taiwan this week...

www.newagebd.net

China sanctions 9 US defence firms in response to Taiwan sales
Agence France-Presse . Beijing 18 September, 2024, 22:09

China imposed sanctions on nine US defence firms on Wednesday, the foreign ministry said, describing the measures as retaliation for Washington’s approval of military equipment sales to Taiwan this week.

‘Weapons sales by the United States to China’s Taiwan region have seriously violated the one-China principle, seriously infringed upon China’s sovereignty and security interests, and damaged China-US relations,’ foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a news conference.

‘China strongly condemns and firmly opposes this and has lodged solemn representations with the United States,’ Lin said.

He said Beijing was ‘taking resolute countermeasures’ by imposing sanctions on nine US defence firms, which were announced in an earlier foreign ministry statement.

The companies, which include aerospace firm Sierra Nevada Corporation, will have their assets in China frozen and all transactions with China-based people and entities will be prohibited, the statement said.

The United States switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979 but has remained Taiwan’s most important partner and its biggest arms supplier, sparking repeated condemnations from China.

Beijing and Washington have repeatedly butted heads in recent years on a range of other issues related to trade, access to advanced technology and China’s increasingly assertive actions in the disputed South China Sea.

Top White House aide Jake Sullivan met high-ranking Chinese military official Zhang Youxia last month during the first visit to China by a US national security adviser since 2016.

Zhang warned during that meeting that the status of the self-ruled island was ‘the first red line that cannot be crossed in China-US relations’, demanding that the United States ‘halts military collusion with Taiwan’.

Meanwhile, a Taiwanese court on Wednesday sentenced a former Chinese naval captain to eight months in prison for illegally entering the self-governing island by boat.

China claims democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and has in recent years ramped up military and political pressures on the island.

The ex-naval captain, Ruan Fangyong, was one of 18 purported defectors from China over the past year, officials have said.​

 

[Saif]

India withdraws envoy, diplomats named ‘persons of interest’ in Canada probe

India withdrew its envoy to Canada on Monday along with other officials and diplomats who Ottawa named as “persons of interest” in a matter related to an investigation in the country, the foreign ministry said. New Delhi rejected the “preposterous imputations” of the Canadi

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Lessons from Iran missile attacks for defending against China’s advanced arsenal
REUTERS
Published :
Oct 14, 2024 18:00
Updated :
Oct 14, 2024 18:00

Projectiles are seen in the sky after Iran fired a salvo of ballistic missiles, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, as seen from Tel Aviv, Israel, October 1, 2024. Photo : REUTERS/Ammar Awad/Files

Iran’s missile barrage this month against Israel, after a similar large-scale attack in April, shows the value, as well as the shortcomings, of US and allied missile defences in a potential Indo-Pacific conflict with China, analysts say.

Although differences between the two scenarios limit the lessons that can be learnt, the nearly 400 missiles of different types that Iran has fired at Israel this year offer the United States and China some idea of what works and what does not.

For Washington, the main takeaway from Iran’s Oct. 1 attacks - the largest sample yet of ballistic missiles fired against modern defences - could be that Beijing’s missiles would be more difficult to intercept than Iran’s and that the ability to strike back would be needed to deter a mass attack, said Collin Koh of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

“If we look purely through the lenses of deterrence, no longer can one pin hopes on deterrence by denial only - that is, the hope that effective defences can blunt the efficacy of missile strikes,” Koh said. “Deterrence by punishment might have to become normative going forward.”

There is no immediate threat of missile conflict in the Indo-Pacific region. The distances, thousands of kilometres, are greater than in the Middle East. China’s weapons are more advanced, including manoeuvring warheads and precision guidance. And the target areas are scattered across the region, making a massed attack more difficult.

China’s military launched a new round of war games near Taiwan on Monday, saying it was a warning to the “separatist acts of Taiwan independence forces”. A Taiwan security source said there were no signs so far of any missile launches.

China’s military launched a new round of war games near Taiwan on Monday, drawing condemnation from the governments in Taipei and the US.

The United States has developed and deployed new weapons in the region this year to counter China, including the AIM-174B air-to-air missile and the ground-based Typhon missile battery in the Philippines, which can launch SM-6 and Tomahawk missiles.

The US Indo-Pacific Command and China’s Ministry of Defence did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

CHINA’S MISSILES LONGER-RANGE, LESS ACCURATE

On the other hand, simply being better informed about how offensive and defensive systems perform after Iran’s missile fusillades - many were intercepted - may reduce the chance of conflict, said Ankit Panda of the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“Any military force planning long-range missile strikes will need to plan around the possible effects of missile defences,” Panda said. “Of course, without clarity on how well a given missile defence system might perform, this could lead to massive escalation.”

Israel’s layered air and missile defences - from its long-range Arrow systems to the Iron Dome shield meant to handle slower, less complex threats - are tailored to the threats it faces: guided ballistic missiles from powers such as Iran mixed with unguided rockets launched from just over Israel’s borders.

The picture is much different in the Indo-Pacific region for the US and its allies, which use the Lockheed Martin (LMT.N), opens new tab and Raytheon (RTX.CO), opens new tab Patriot, THAAD and sea-based Aegis systems for missile defence.

The accuracy of China’s DF-26, its most numerous conventional intermediate-range ballistic missile, is estimated to be as good as 150 m (500 feet), according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Missile Defense Project. Its DF-21 is shorter-ranged, though some variants have an accuracy of 50 m.

Both can hit most US and allied targets in the region. The DF-26 can reach Guam, the site of major US military facilities. The Pentagon has estimated that China may have several hundred of the missiles.

By contrast, Iran’s missiles such as the Fattah-1 are theoretically more accurate - within tens of metres - but are much shorter-ranged. The number of these newer missiles is not public, but US Air Force General Kenneth McKenzie told Congress last year that Iran had more than 3,000 ballistic missiles of all types.

China’s capabilities outstrip Iran’s in other ways, said Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. Missile attacks would most likely be coordinated with anti-satellite strikes and cyberwarfare, both designed to complicate defence.

“Western (integrated air and missile defence) systems in the Indo-Pacific would have a much tougher time defeating a large Chinese missile strike, comprising hundreds or even thousands of missiles, compared to what the Iranians are capable of,” Davis said.​

 

[Saif]

US, China must ‘get along’

Chinese President Xi Jinping said yesterday Beijing and Washington must find a way to “get along” in a message to US president-elect Donald Trump, state media reported.

www.thedailystar.net

US, China must ‘get along’
Xi tells Trump

Chinese President Xi Jinping said yesterday Beijing and Washington must find a way to "get along" in a message to US president-elect Donald Trump, state media reported.

In his first message to Trump since the former president secured a second term, Xi said "history has shown that China and the United States benefit from cooperation and suffer from confrontation", state broadcaster CCTV said.

CCTV did not specify how the message was conveyed.​