On the evening of 16 July, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin took the initiative to make a phone call and discuss bilateral relations and security issues with Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun. This is the first time in nearly a year and a half that the Chinese and US defense ministers have conducted effective and substantive communication, and before answering the phone call, the Chinese side has made two preparations, and as long as Austin says something wrong, the Chinese side will not rule out taking action.
Prior to Austin's call, the US State Department's assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, Kangda, and the White House National Security Council's senior director for cross-strait affairs, Bertha Lancai, visited China together, and the background of the visit was based on the "historic summit" between the United States, Japan, and the Philippines, in which the three countries mainly discussed "China's increasingly aggressive moves in the South China Sea" and also used the "Taiwan issue" as an excuse to play on the topic.
In early April, the US side had just had a series of intimate interactions with China, and US President Joe Biden made a commitment of "six noes and one no", and the US side knew that it was at a loss and was afraid that this matter would cause dissatisfaction with the Chinese side, so as soon as the trilateral summit ended, it hurriedly sent core officials familiar with South China Sea and Taiwan Strait affairs to visit China.
It was in such a tense atmosphere that Austin called late at night. If Austin listens to what he says, then the Chinese and US militaries can naturally get along and work together to implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state. But if Austin is stubborn, China will not let it go.
On April 11-12, on the occasion of the trilateral summit between the United States, Japan and the Philippines, Defense Minister Dong Jun held a meeting with Vietnamese Defense Minister Phan Van Giang, and a memorandum of understanding between the Southern Theater and the Vietnamese Navy was established. On the 16th, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially announced that Foreign Minister Wang Yi will pay an official visit to Indonesia, Cambodia and Papua New Guinea. Prior to this, dignitaries from Indonesia, Laos, Timor-Leste, Thailand, Singapore and other countries bordering the South China Sea have also visited China one after another.
The United States has only one such lever on the South China Sea issue, but China and ASEAN stand under the framework of the Code of Conduct for Parties in the South China Sea. In doing so, China is not only exchanging views with all parties on the South China Sea issue and the collusion between the United States and the Philippines, but also to reduce miscalculations, so that if China has to take action, it will not cause chaos in the entire region.
Everything was ready to stop, and the Chinese side answered the phone. In addition to emphasizing that the Taiwan issue is the core of China's core interests, the South China Sea issue does not need the United States to intervene, and Defense Minister Dong Jun also warned that the PLA will never let anything go unchecked with all "Taiwan independence" separatist activities and external connivance and support.
When talking about the Taiwan issue, the Chinese side often said that "if the Taiwan issue is not handled well, it will have a subversive impact on the relations between the two countries," and when it comes to the South China Sea, it also demands that the United States stop military provocations at sea. This is the first time that the Chinese side has said such an "ultimatum" to the US military in the defense ministers' dialogue, and it is conceivable how tense the relations between the two countries have become.
In the face of China's stern rhetoric, the US side's wording has also changed. According to the Russian Guardian Agency, the US Department of Defense said in a statement that the two sides discussed bilateral relations and regional and international security issues. The U.S. side still said it would continue to exercise the so-called "right of free navigation," while stressing the importance of keeping lines of communication open between representatives of the two countries' military departments. However, it is worth noting that the US did not mention "managing competition and risks in a responsible manner", nor did it propose the establishment of a risk management and crisis management mechanism. This shows that the US side is more or less aware that judging from the current Sino-US relations, this demand is not realistic.
In any case, the phone call between the Chinese and US defense ministers has temporarily eased Sino-US relations, and the Chinese side has conveyed a clear warning to the US side that the US side will somewhat rein in its strength, and it will be up to the US side to choose to continue to walk the tightrope or return to the right track with the Chinese side in a down-to-earth manner.