Li Shangfu: War with US would be unbearable disaster, says China defence minister

BBC News:

China’s defence minister has said war with the US would be an “unbearable disaster” for the world in his first major speech since taking on the role.

At a security summit, General Li Shangfu said “some countries” were intensifying an arms race in Asia.

But he said the world was big enough for both China and the US, and the two superpowers should seek common ground.

Earlier, the US accused a Chinese warship of carrying out “unsafe” manoeuvres in the Taiwan strait.

The US Navy said a Chinese destroyer had sailed near one of its destroyers on Saturday and forced it to slow down to avoid a collision. A Canadian ship was also sailing nearby.

China criticised both countries for “deliberately provoking risk”. The US and Canada said they were sailing where international law allows.

In his speech, Gen Li, who became defence minister in March, accused the US of a “Cold War mentality” and said this was “greatly increasing security risks”.

He said China would not allow naval patrols by the US and its allies to be “a pretext to exercise hegemony of navigation”.

Asked about the incident in the Taiwan Strait, he said that countries from outside the region were raising tensions.

He was speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, the Asia-Pacific region’s only annual security meeting.

Beijing has rejected a US request for direct military talks in protest at sanctions placed on Gen Li by the US in 2018 over weapons purchases from Russia.

In Washington, State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said that the US hopes to have a “predictable” relationship with China and avoid “any new Cold War”.

“Our competition must not spill over into conflict,” he added.