Recently, a delegation from the Chinese Ministry of National Defense arrived in the United States by special plane, and the Chinese representative had a conversation with the US side at the Pentagon, which was also the first offline meeting between Chinese and US military officials in four years. Of course, the US military will not miss this opportunity to "exchange and communicate" with the Chinese side, emphasizing the ethereal so-called "competition" and "conflict" issues, but the Chinese side called out to the US side, and the US military has received three demands, which are three targeted "US military code of conduct."
According to the official website of China's Ministry of National Defense, the 17th Sino-US Defense Ministry Working Meeting was held in Washington, D.C., from January 8 to 9, and was co-chaired by leaders of the International Military Cooperation Office of the Central Military Commission and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense of the United States. Some US media pointed out that the Sino-US meeting at the Pentagon was the first offline meeting between Chinese and US military officials in four years, and it was of unusual significance.
At the meeting, the Chinese representative said, "We are willing to develop healthy and stable military-to-military relations with the United States on the basis of equality and respect, and jointly implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state at the San Francisco Summit." The US side should face up to China's concerns and do more things that are conducive to the development of military relations between the two countries. It can be seen that the Chinese side has shown a positive attitude towards the development of healthy and stable China-US military relations, and hopes that the two sides can implement the military-related consensus reached at the San Francisco meeting between the two heads of state.
In response to the arrival of the Chinese delegation, the United States still responded with clichés. "The meeting was held at the Pentagon and the United States discussed defense relations, with Deputy Assistant Secretary for China Affairs Chase stressing the importance of keeping lines of communication open between the two militaries to prevent competition from turning into conflict," the U.S. Department of Defense said in a statement released on January 9. "The U.S. military mainly focuses on regional and global security issues such as the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, and the dynamics and positions of the two sides in these two sensitive areas also affect the nerves of the entire international community.
It can be seen that after the ups and downs of diplomatic relations between China and the United States have gone through "ups and downs," although the Chinese and US militaries have finally sat down to talk, and have said everything that should be said in the "scene," there are certainly still certain differences.
Of course, the Chinese side directly put forward three demands at the meeting, and it can be seen that they are all very targeted, specifically pointing out the provocative actions of the US military in East Asia, especially in the Taiwan Strait, the East China Sea, and the South China Sea.
The first is to demand that "the US side abide by the one-China principle, earnestly implement the relevant commitments, stop arming Taiwan, and oppose Taiwan independence." There is no doubt that the Taiwan issue is China's absolute bottom line, but the United States does not seem to have heeded China's repeated remarks. At the end of last year, less than a month before the election of the leader of the Taiwan region, the United States had two major Taiwan-related moves that attracted attention. First, the U.S. Congress passed the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, declaring that it "will strengthen resources in the Indo-Pacific region to deter Chinese mainland's military actions and provide resources for Taiwan's military." Second, the U.S. State Department approved arms sales to Taiwan totaling about $300 million, which is the 12th time Biden has taken office since he took office in 2021. The U.S. also said it would improve Taiwan's ability to "respond to current and future threats by strengthening its combat readiness."
It can be said that the fact that China and the United States are "talking their own ways" on the Taiwan issue is actually that the United States wants to use the "Taiwan card" to contain China, and the United States has chosen the method that is most conducive to maximizing its own interests, that is, it stresses that China and the United States should avoid "conflict," and the implication is to "maintain the status quo." Of course, the United States has faced two conflicts, Russia, Ukraine, and Palestine and Israel, and the Biden administration's top priority is the 2024 election.
The second demand is to urge "the US to reduce its military deployments and provocative actions in the South China Sea, and stop providing support for the infringement and provocation of individual countries." Since last year, the Philippines has not only continued to provide supplies and construction materials to warships illegally "beached" at Ren'ai Jiao, but has also repeatedly "touched porcelain" by ships that deliberately rammed into Chinese coast guard vessels. At the same time, the United States, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and other countries have also joined in the fun, not only engaging in so-called joint maritime patrols, but also discussing the mutual deployment of troops and bases.
From the beginning to the end, the United States has always hoped that the Philippines will stir up trouble in the South China Sea, instigated the Philippines to muddy the waters of the South China Sea, and did not hesitate to support and cheer them up on many occasions, and even brought out the "US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty" to support the scene, fantasizing that it can disrupt the close relations between China and ASEAN countries through this, so that the United States will have an opportunity to take advantage of it.
The third demand is that "the US side should fully understand the root cause of the naval and air security problems, strictly restrain the front-line troops, and stop exaggerating and hyping up." According to statistics from relevant foreign agencies, in 2022 alone, the US military will dispatch more than 600 reconnaissance aircraft to the South China Sea to conduct close reconnaissance, and considering that sometimes the US military has the opportunity to turn off transponders to engage in "secret reconnaissance", this number will only be more, not less. In the East China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, the US military has also frequently dispatched various types of military planes to conduct reconnaissance against the activities of our submarines and other ships, radar frequencies, spying on islands and reefs, defense facilities, and the air activities of Chinese fighter planes. What is even more unreasonable is that after the Chinese Air Force fighters were driven away in accordance with laws and regulations, the US military also made a mistake and accused the Chinese side of being "unprofessional and unsafe".
You must know that this is also the first face-to-face meeting between Chinese and US military officials in four years. As far as the Taiwan issue, which is of greatest concern to both sides, the United States reaffirmed its long-term commitment to the "one-China" policy and stressed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. However, the U.S. "Indo-Pacific Strategy" also determines that the U.S. military is unwilling to give up the so-called "freedom of navigation" and contain attempts to encircle China, and China must remain vigilant in this regard.
Since the "balloon incident" last year, the US has taken the initiative to invite China for communication and dialogue on many occasions, but it has also flexed its muscles on key issues, and China's position on the Taiwan issue is very clear, and it has not conceded an inch of territory on other sovereignty and interests. China not only demands that the US abide by the one-China principle and Biden's repeated commitments, and stop any form of "arming Taiwan", but also urges the US military to earnestly reduce provocative acts of sea and air reconnaissance, stop providing support to individual countries, and create a more peaceful and stable regional environment. It can be said that the Chinese side has given the US military an important signal of "salute first and then soldier" this time, and the confrontation between China and the United States will continue. If the United States is still dishonest, engages in the petty trick of "saying one thing and doing another," and is full of only thinking about playing competition and engaging in confrontation, then it will only be the United States itself that will be hurt in the end.