China’s defense minister defends country’s response to ‘provocation’

SINGAPORE — China’s newly appointed defense minister said Sunday Chinese fighter jets and naval vessels were responding to provocations close to China’s airspace and waters when carrying out maneuvers that have been branded dangerous or unprofessional.

Li Shangfu, who was named to his position in March, was speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue here. The event, organized by the International Institute of Strategic Studies – Asia, takes place annually on the first weekend of June.

During the question-and-answer session after his speech, Li was asked about the new report and video of a People’s Liberation Army Navy warship cutting across the bow of the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Chung-hoon.

The footage was shot by a Canadian news crew who witnessed the event from a Canadian frigate accompanying the American destroyer as they transited through international waters along the Taiwan Strait on June 3

The maneuver was described at the dialogue by Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the Indo-Pacific Program at the German Marshall Fund, as “in contravention of the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea.”

However, Li said that the Canadian-U.S. voyage cannot be considered “innocent passage,” but was instead provocation. He questioned why foreign jets and naval vessels were operating so close to China and said foreign militaries should “mind your own business” closer to home.

The encounter at sea came eight days after the U.S. Department of Defense released video of a Chinese J-16 multirole fighter conducting what DoD called an “unprofessional” intercept of a U.S. Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft over the South China Sea by cutting across the latter’s flightpath.

The maneuver is known as “thumping,” in reference to the interceptor using its jetwash to temporarily disrupt the flight of the aircraft being intercepted with its wake turbulence.

Li declined to directly answer questions from delegates about the performance of the Russian military and equipment during the invasion of Ukraine, saying his recent focus has been on military diplomacy and that he has not been following the conflict from a combat standpoint.

Li used his speech to highlight China’s contributions to global security, such as its sending of peacekeepers to seven different conflict zones under the auspices of the United Nations and 139 naval vessels in 44 separate deployments for anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden.

He also commented on Taiwan issue, reiterating that the matter is an internal Chinese affair and accusing Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party of undermining regional stability by pushing for “incremental independence.”

Li criticized “some big power,” a reference to the United States, for repeatedly selling arms and providing military training assistance to the self-ruling island. He said China will not rule out using force to reunify Taiwan with the mainland.

Mike Yeo is the Asia correspondent for Defense News.

新加坡——中国新任国防部长周日表示，中国战斗机和海军舰艇在进行一些被指责为危险或不专业的演习时，正在对靠近中国领空和水域的挑衅行为作出回应。

今年三月就任的李尚福在香格里拉对话会上发表了讲话。该对话会由国际战略研究所亚洲分所主办，每年六月的第一个周末举行。

在演讲后的问答环节中，李被问及有关中国人民解放军海军军舰横穿美国海军驱逐舰“钟勋”号舰首的新报道和视频。

这段视频是由一个加拿大新闻摄制组拍摄的，他们于6月3日从一艘陪同美国驱逐舰穿越台湾海峡国际水域的加拿大护卫舰上目睹了这一事件。

在对话中，德国马歇尔基金会印太项目总经理邦妮·格拉泽将这一举动描述为“违反了《防止海上碰撞国际规则公约》”。

然而，李克强表示，加美联合航行不能被视为“无害通过”，而是一种挑衅。他质疑外国战机和舰艇为何在中国附近海域活动，并表示外国军队应该“管好自己的事”，不要干涉本国事务。

此次海上遭遇发生在美国防部发布视频八天后，视频显示一架中国歼-16多用途战斗机在南海上对一架美国空军RC-135侦察机进行了美国防部所称的“不专业”拦截，该拦截行为是通过横穿后者的飞行路线实现的。

这种机动动作被称为“撞击”，指的是拦截机利用其喷射气流，通过尾流湍流暂时扰乱被拦截飞机的飞行。

李拒绝直接回答代表们关于俄罗斯军队和装备在入侵乌克兰期间的表现的问题，称他最近一直专注于军事外交，并没有从作战角度关注这场冲突。

李克强总理在讲话中强调了中国对全球安全的贡献，例如在联合国主持下向七个不同的冲突地区派遣维和人员，以及在亚丁湾进行44次不同的反海盗巡逻，共派出139艘海军舰艇。

他还就台湾问题发表了评论，重申这是中国的内部事务，并指责台湾执政的民进党通过推动“渐进式独立”破坏地区稳定。

李克强批评“某些大国”（指美国）屡次向台湾出售武器并提供军事训练援助。他表示，中国不排除使用武力实现台湾与大陆的统一。

Mike Yeo 是《防务新闻》的亚洲通讯员。