China continuing to harden its position along borders with India: US Defence Secretary
His comments came days after a top US General said some of the defence infrastructure that is being created by China near its border with India in Ladakh is "alarming", calling the Chinese activity in that region as "eye-opening".
The Indian and Chinese troops have been locked in a tense border standoff in eastern Ladakh since May 5, 2020, when a violent clash between the two sides erupted in the Pangong lake area.
China is hardening its position along the Line of Actual Control with India, US defence secretary Lloyd James Austin said on Saturday and noted that the US believes that India's “growing military capability and technological prowess can be a stabilising force in the region.”
Austin made the comments as part of his address at the 2022 edition of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. He went on to claim that America stands by its friends as they uphold their rights as Beijing adopts the “war coercive” and “aggressive approach” to its territorial claims.
Austin noted that China is taking aggressive and illegal approaches to the territories it claims in the South China Sea and advancing its illegal maritime plans. “Further to the West, we see Beijing continuing to harden the position along the borders it shares with India,” he said. “We remain unwavering in our mutual defence commitments,” Austin assured.
His comments came days after a top US general said here that some of the defence infrastructure that is being created by China near its border with India in Ladakh is “alarming,” calling the Chinese activity in that region as “eye-opening.”
US Army's Pacific commanding general Charles A Flynn, visiting India on Wednesday, also said the “destabilising and corrosive” behaviour of the Chinese Communist Party in the Indo-Pacific region is simply not helpful. Flynn’s comments drew sharp reaction from China, which claimed that Beijing and New Delhi can resolve their boundary issue bilaterally.
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Austin recalled the importance of joint exercises conducted by the USS Theodore Roosevelt with the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force in the Indian Ocean last spring.
Claiming that the US remains open and fully prepared to deter and defeat future aggression, he said, “We also stand by our friends as they uphold their rights that is especially important as the People’s Republic of China adopts the war coercive and aggressive approach to its territorial claims.”
US ally Japan also announced plans to expand its security role in Asia. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who also addressed the Dialogue on Friday night, announced that his country would expand its security role in Asia. “In addition to the Asean and Pacific countries, Japan, Australia, India and the United States, also known as Quad, are playing an important role in promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific. It is also important for likeminded countries to work together to increase the investment in resources in this region,” Kishida said while pointing out that the grouping pledged to spend more than $50 billion on infrastructure assistance and investment in the Indo-Pacific over the next five years when they met in May for a leadership summit.
Japan struck a strong tone as Kishida said that Tokyo will increase defence spending and possibly seek advanced strike weapons.
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Interestingly, Austin met his Chinese counterpart and used his first in-person meeting with China’s defence minister Wei Fenghe to renew calls for more measures to keep future crises from escalating into conflict. While Austin tweeted about the talks, Wei called the discussion “honest and sincere” and said it went “smoothly.”
Both the US and China are using the Shangri-La Dialogue to drum up support for their competing visions for regional stability. Defence ministers from Southeast Asia made it clear that their countries will not pick sides.
