Stormy seas as China pushes US in Western Pacific

A Chinese warship crosses the path of the destroyer USS Chung-Hoon as it moves through the Taiwan Strait with the Royal Canadian Navy frigate Montreal on Saturday. Picture: Global News via Reuters

The risk of conflict in the Western Pacific is growing as China raises the military stakes with a goal of dominating the region.

The Biden administration will have to keep its nerve, while preparing for a more aggressive ­response if the Chinese Communist Party keeps pushing.

Consider China’s actions in the past two weeks:

• On May 26 a Chinese fighter jet came within 400m of a US ­reconnaissance plane flying in international air space above the South China Sea. The unprofessional intercept forced the US plane to fly through the jet’s wake and was a clear attempt to intimidate.

• China’s defence officials snubbed a request by US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin for a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the annual Singapore security conference at the weekend. Such meetings have become routine at the annual conference, and Austin criticised China’s opposition to military communication that could reduce misunderstanding.

• A Chinese naval ship at the weekend came within 150m of a US missile destroyer traversing the Taiwan Strait with a Canadian warship. The US rightly views such patrols as essential to maintain the principle of freedom of navigation, but China claims the strait as its territorial waterway.

“The relevant countries are intentionally creating trouble in the Taiwan Strait, deliberately stirring up risks, and maliciously undermining regional peace and stability,” said Senior Colonel Shi Yi, the spokesman for China’s Eastern Theatre Command. The naval harassment is an attempt to scare the US and its allies into ending naval transit in the strait.

All of this comes despite the Biden administration beseeching Beijing for better relations. It also comes despite the recent press ­report that CIA director William Burns made a secret visit to Beijing to smooth relations. The overtures aren’t making headway with President Xi Jinping.

Perhaps China is playing hardball so President Joe Biden won’t impose new restrictions on US ­investment in China. Such an executive order has been mooted but hasn’t been issued. A recent editorial in China Daily, a government propaganda organ, warned the US not to issue it.

China also wants the US to ­remove sanctions against Defence Minister Li Shangfu. He was sanctioned in 2018 over the purchase of combat aircraft and equipment from Russia’s main arms exporter.

The military provocations may be China’s way of threatening the US with what could happen if it continues sanctions and hi-tech export controls.

No matter what Biden does, China’s clear military goal is to push the US out of the Western Pacific, and it is getting bolder as its military power rapidly increases. Xi warned Chinese national-­security officials last week that they should prepare for the “worst-case” scenario and “stormy seas.”

The risk of an accidental confrontation is growing, but so is the risk that China will perceive weakness if Biden responds to its provocations by appeasing Xi.

A war in the Western Pacific would be a disaster for the world. But the Chinese war hawks need to understand that their military provocations make it harder for a US administration to pursue ­bilateral detente