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International News Title: U.S.-China Talks Set to Open With Fresh Concerns Over Beijing’s Sea Claims The annual Strategic and Economic Dialogue is a three-day affair that draws hundreds of U.S. and Chinese officials from a variety of agencies. They are led on the U.S. side by Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, and on the Chinese side by State Councilor Yang Jiechi and Vice Premier Wang Yang. The intent of the annual talks, which Mr. Obama launched in 2009, is to try to find common ground even as the great powers tussle over maritime and cyber security, as well as a host of economic issues. Beijing Hits Back at U.S. Over South China Sea Comments Washington Wire: Kerry Pulls Strings in Mongolia, Literally Nine-Dash Line’s Ambiguity a Good Thing, Argues Chinese Military Academic Calls for China to Respect Maritime-Claim Ruling Grow Louder NATO General Says China Should Respect Tribunal on Maritime Claim . Disputed claims in the South China Sea are likely to overshadow security discussions as Beijing pursues a series of major reclamation projects on disputed islands and reefs, part of an area variously claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. The Pentagon views China’s reclamation of more than 3,200 acres of land over the past two years in parts of the disputed South China Sea as coercive and intended to advance its interests while stopping just short of provoking war. U.S. officials now are concerned that China will establish an air defense identification zone over the South China Sea, restricting flights by other countries. On Sunday, while in Mongolia before heading to China, Mr. Kerry said such a move would be “provocative and destabilizing” and would “automatically raise tensions and call into serious question China’s commitment to diplomatically managing territorial disputes in the South China Sea.” China hasn’t announced plans for a new air defense identification zone, but has long maintained it has a right to establish such zones, as do other countries. An ADIZ demarcates a zone outside a country’s national airspace where planes must identify themselves for security reasons and follow the country’s military instructions. Mr. Kerry urged China “not to move unilaterally in ways that are provocative” and reiterated the U.S. position on Sunday that it doesn’t take sides among the claimants in the South China Sea but urges peaceful resolution of disputes. Mr. Kerry is on a trip that also will take him to the Middle East, where he will visit officials in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. His visit to Saudi Arabia will precede an expected visit to Washington later in June by Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi deputy crown prince and son of King Salman. The U.S. has been using military aircraft and naval vessels to challenge Beijing’s claims. Last month the U.S. sent a guided missile destroyer within 12 nautical miles of a part of the disputed Spratly Islands and deployed a U.S. reconnaissance plane near Chinese-claimed territory. Beijing repeatedly has said it considers recent moves by Washington as dangerous provocations. “This may affect other aspects of the relationship,” said Jia Qingguo, dean of Peking University’s School of International Relations, and a U.S.-China specialist. The U.S. in the past has challenged China’s establishment of another air defense zone in the region, over the East China Sea, by flying American military aircraft through the area without first obtaining permission. Military officials from both countries will participate in a strategic track of discussions this week chaired on the U.S. side by Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken. Officials previewing the talks said the sides would candidly discuss the South China Sea, North Korea and maritime and cyber security. The annual talks also come ahead of a ruling expected in the coming weeks from the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague, where the Philippines has challenged China’s expansive maritime claim to the South China Sea under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The U.S. views the ruling as binding, regardless of its outcome. Concerns over China’s actions in the South China Sea also dominated a high-profile security conference in Singapore known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, attended by both Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Admiral Sun Jianguo, deputy chief of the People’s Liberation Army’s general staff department. New developments concerning North Korea will represent another source of strain at this week’s talks. The U.S. and China partnered earlier this year to enact tough sanctions on Pyongyang in response to continued arms and nuclear tests. But in a move that will add to the tension between the two powers, Washington took additional steps last week to further isolate North Korea from the global financial system that could bring Beijing and Washington into direct economic conflict. Pyongyang’s biggest trading partner—China—likely will feel the effects. “China has the ability to both create pressure and use that as a leverage that is a very important part of global efforts to isolate North Korea and get North Korea to change its policies,” a senior Treasury Department official told reporters in Seoul, where Mr. Lew stopped before heading to the talks. The official said Mr. Lew and others would urge China to up the pressure on Pyongyang to denuclearize. Last year’s two-nation summit in Washington took place shortly after U.S. officials blamed China for a massive hack on the Office of Personnel Management that affected millions of personnel records. Since then, the U.S. and China have moved to repair ties on that front—Mr. Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced an agreement last September that neither nation would conduct or support the online theft of trade secrets or intellectual property. They also created a higher-level cyber dialogue hosted by cabinet officials that first convened in December 2015 in Washington and is set to take place again in Beijing later this month. China had pulled out of lower-level cyber talks in 2014 after the U.S. indicted five People’s Liberation Army officers for cybersleuthing and the December talks were the first dedicated to the topic since then. But U.S. officials continue to be concerned with China’s cyber activities and cybersecurity firms have reported continued breaches by China even after the fall agreement. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread |
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