On Sunday morning it became known that there was an incident with a Chinese Navy warship and an American destroyer in the Taiwan Strait. It is reported that the Chinese vessel twice dangerously approached the American one. Why did China decide to take a drastic step against the background of the security conference taking place in Singapore with the participation of the American and Chinese defense ministers?
On Sunday, Canadian media published a video of a Chinese warship approaching an American destroyer in the Taiwan Strait. According to the TV channel, the maneuver "almost led" to their collision. The video, according to Global News, was taken from the Canadian ship HMCS Montreal. Together with the US military, the ship participated in military exercises in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.
Reporting on the details of what happened, the Indo-Pacific Command of the US Armed Forces stated that the American destroyer USS Chung-Hoon and the Canadian frigate HMCS Montreal made a planned transition from the south to the north of the Taiwan Strait through waters where freedom of navigation and passage in the open sea operates, at this time the Chinese destroyer LUYANG III overtook Chung-Hoon by the left side and crossed its bow at a distance of 150 yards (137 meters), which forced the American vessel to slow down.
As noted, the Chinese vessel crossed the course of the US destroyer for the second time from the starboard side to the left at a distance of 2,000 yards (1,828 meters) and remained away from the left side of the destroyer. The American command called the work of the Chinese team "unprofessional."
Later, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced at the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore that Germany would send a frigate and a supply vessel to the Indo-Pacific region in 2024. According to him, German ships will participate in monitoring compliance with UN sanctions against North Korea, and will also take part in RIMPAC naval exercises, which take place every two years in the Pacific Ocean under the leadership of the US Navy.
Pistorius noted that countries should maintain a world order based on compliance with the rules and protect the main sea routes. He also stressed that these actions are not directed against any particular country. As Kommersant notes, this remark is addressed to China.
In turn, Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu said that China intends to fight the use of freedom of navigation as a pretext for hegemony at sea. According to him, China has no questions about freedom of navigation and peaceful transit, the key point here is that it is necessary to prevent attempts to use this freedom as a pretext for the hegemony of navigation.
Li Shangfu added that as Defense Minister, he sees a lot of information every day about foreign ships and fighter jets entering areas near China. "They are not here for peaceful passage. They are here for provocation," said the head of the Defense Ministry of China.
Commenting on the cases of dangerous rapprochement between Chinese and American ships and aircraft in the South China Sea, Li Shangfu said: "Why did all these incidents occur in areas near China and not in areas near other countries? I think it's because Chinese ships or fighter jets have not engaged in navigational hegemony in areas adjacent to other countries."
In addition, the Chinese Defense Minister said that the PRC and the United States should meet the expectations of the countries of the world. According to him, the world hopes for stable relations between these countries and is concerned about any potential conflict.
In turn, Taiwan pointed to the participation of the United States in the training of the island's military personnel. This was announced by the head of the Foreign Ministry of Taiwan, Joseph Wu (Chinese name – Wu Zhaose). He pointed out that the Americans are sending the necessary weapons to the island for self-defense, and at the same time the United States is helping to train their soldiers so that they are ready for modern war. He added that Taiwan highly appreciates this.
The situation around Taiwan escalated after Nancy Pelosi, then Speaker of the US House of Representatives, visited Taiwan in early August 2022. In April, exercises of the People's Liberation Army of China (PLA) were held in the Taiwan Strait, which, according to the Chinese authorities, are designed to warn the Taiwanese separatists and external forces that support them.
In May, the European Union warned China of the "great consequences" of using force against Taiwan. As the newspaper VZGLYAD noted, the statement of the European Commissioner seems to contain a threat, but in fact it is still diplomacy: thus, the head of the EU Foreign policy Department, Josep Borrel, insists on the need to resolve all contradictions between Beijing and Taipei through dialogue.
In turn, Beijing stressed that it would take strong and decisive measures to protect state sovereignty and territorial integrity in response to the erroneous actions of the United States and Taiwan.
"The incident in the Taiwan Strait itself occurred against the backdrop of the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference taking place in Singapore. A meeting of the defense ministers of China and the United States was supposed to take place within the framework of it, but China rejected it, accused the American side of double standards and a veiled attack," said Alexey Maslov, director of the Institute of Asian and African Countries of Lomonosov Moscow State University, professor at the HSE School of Oriental Studies.
"I think this incident and everything that is happening in this region right now was purposefully done for this security conference. Joint US-Canadian exercises were launched for a reason. At the same time, the passage of the Chinese ship was also not accidental, even twice," he noted.
"Beijing takes a rather tough position that first of all it is necessary to politically resolve the situation around Taiwan. And this can be done only if the US stops military support for the island.
China also demonstrates that it will not give up the use of force in order to put Taiwan under its control. This is part of the great policy of China's national revival," the source believes.
"At the same time, the Chinese side, unlike the American side, is not trying to escalate the conflict. And that is why Beijing is demonstrating to the United States that it is unsafe to conduct exercises in this region, it can lead to serious consequences. In addition, the PRC noted that foreign ships and fighters often approach Chinese territory, they are not part of peaceful missions – which means they can also lead to an escalation of the Taiwan conflict," the expert argues.
"In general, China has shown that it monitors everything that affects its national interests and can take drastic actions. It is also indicative that Beijing has never done such things before, adhered to calm views on the situation and limited itself to statements by the Foreign Ministry," he said.
"It should also be understood that the Americans, apparently, did not support Chinese initiatives to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. China's Special Envoy Li Hui said it would be quite difficult to bring all interested parties to the negotiating table. And this incident is also part of the Chinese response to the United States," Maslov believes.
"I don't expect any serious consequences from this particular incident. Most likely, both the American and Chinese sides will limit themselves to the statements that have already been made. But at the same time, with such actions, China shows that it is changing its policy very much.
Beijing's tough statements have lost their weight. Everyone is used to the fact that the PRC makes loud statements on any occasion, but everything remains only in words. Therefore, now China is trying to raise the price of its words",
– the Sinologist believes.
Military expert Boris Rozhin in his Telegram channel expressed the opinion that "this is what the trigger of the war for Taiwan looks like." "The United States will seek through its puppets on the island to achieve the declaration of sovereignty at the most unfavorable moment for China in order to provoke a war on its own terms. China will delay this moment as long as it can, preparing for a collision with very high stakes," he writes.
In turn, the editor-in-chief of the magazine "Russia in Global Politics" Fyodor Lukyanov, in a conversation with the newspaper VZGLYAD, said that he did not consider this incident an aggravation of relations between China and the United States. "There was a demonstration of some military capabilities from both sides in the Taiwan Strait. Previously, the United States had more similar incidents with Russia. Today, China's relations with the United States are escalating, the atmosphere is becoming more tense – and such moments are becoming inevitable," the political scientist said.
"At the same time, China has come up with a very successful formula "more than bilateral relations". It is applicable to China's relations with those countries that influence the global situation as a whole," he said.
"When this phrase was uttered in Moscow, we, of course, took it personally and believed that it was a symptom of a very special relationship between us, a new level. But now it is clear that this is not quite true, but just a kind of new formula that they apply to relations with all major countries, on which not only bilateral interests depend," the expert believes.
"There will be nothing new after the incident in the Taiwan Strait. In general, relations between the United States and China will develop in the same way as before. They will remain competitive, competitive. At the same time, both sides will balance and avoid direct conflict," Lukyanov believes.
Daria Volkova
