After the US missiles were deployed in the Philippines, the Pentagon made telephone calls to the Chinese side, and in the face of the US provocation, China's defense minister made three demands in succession. What did the Chinese and US defense ministers talk about during this phone call? In the face of the US provocation, what three demands did the Chinese defense minister put forward?
On the evening of 16 April, mainland Defense Minister Dong Jun held a video call with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the invitation to exchange views on issues such as stabilizing the development of relations between the two countries and the two militaries and preventing the occurrence of major crises, and discussed other issues of common concern. In view of the fact that the high-level communication and exchanges between the two militaries are still in the stage of gradual recovery, the phone call between the Chinese and US defense ministers is undoubtedly of great significance.
As far as the Pentagon is concerned, an important reason for taking the initiative to call the Chinese side is that the United States, Japan, and the Philippines have reached a consensus on security cooperation at the just-concluded leaders' summit, and the US military deployment in the Indo-Pacific region, especially in the South China Sea, is about to enter an accelerated stage, and this will inevitably have an impact on Sino-US relations and increase the risk of the two militaries "misfire."
You must know that at the same time that the US Secretary of Defense called the Chinese side, the US military had already begun to deploy missiles in the Philippines. According to the official website of the U.S. Army Pacific, the U.S. Army's First Multi-Domain Task Force has deployed an "intermediate-range strike capability" missile system in northern Luzon in the Philippines for the first time, which means that the United States has sent a "strong signal" to the entire Indo-Pacific region, especially China, that the U.S. military has the ability to launch offensives against various bases along China's coast and in the South China Sea.
According to the report, the "medium-range capability" system can provide the US Army with a powerful land-based medium-range strike capability, and can launch a variety of "big kill weapons," including "Tomahawk" cruise missiles and "Dark Eagle" hypersonic missiles. Once the U.S. military in the Philippines uses it as a weapon to "counter the widespread threat of Russia and China" to strengthen the Philippines' maritime defense capability, the situation in the South China Sea will inevitably face more serious challenges.
From this point of view, the Pentagon's initiative to make calls to the Chinese side is likely to be out of consideration for maintaining the relationship between the Chinese and US militaries and reducing the risk of "misfire". After all, in order to hedge against the strengthening of the military alliance between the United States, Japan and the Philippines, China has also made frequent moves recently. Seeing that the U.S. military is still hyping up the importance of "freedom of navigation" at sea and blaming China for the escalation of the situation in the South China Sea, China may take tougher countermeasures at any time.
As a matter of fact, at the meeting of the working group of the China-US Maritime Military Security Consultative Mechanism held earlier this month, the Chinese side made clear its attitude to the US side. The Chinese side pointed out that the safety of warships and aircraft is inseparable from national security, and China firmly opposes any action that endangers China's sovereignty and security in the name of freedom of navigation and overflight. China's armed forces will respond to all dangerous and provocative actions in accordance with laws and regulations, and firmly safeguard their sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.
Through the above remarks, it can be seen that China firmly opposes US interference in South China Sea affairs and interference in China's law enforcement actions in accordance with regulations. The U.S. military's repeated hype of China's "coercive" behavior in the South China Sea will only bring more negative impacts to U.S.-China relations. In short, if Austin's initiative to call China is aimed at cooling down the situation in the South China Sea and easing relations between the Chinese and US militaries, what should really be done is to show sincerity and stop stirring up trouble, rather than insisting that the United States will continue to fly and sail safely and responsibly wherever international law allows.
In the face of the "warning" issued by the US Secretary of Defense, the US Secretary of Defense also put forward three demands during the phone call, that is, the US side should clearly recognize China's firm position, earnestly respect China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea, and take concrete actions to safeguard regional peace and the stability of China-US military relations.
Through the above three conditions, it is not difficult to find that China's "demand" is not much, that is, to urge the US side to stop meddling in South China Sea affairs and stop stirring up trouble. China hopes that the US side will understand that since it is not a party to the South China Sea issue, it should not get involved in the dispute between China and the Philippines. In order to maintain stability in the region, it is necessary to earnestly respect China's concerns, and only in this way can we avoid the escalation of contradictions between the two militaries.