A senior White House official on Tuesday warned of a "real and growing" risk of a military miscalculation between Washington and the Xi Jinping-led Chinese army.
What Happened: The U.S. National Security Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific, Kurt Campbell, said President Joe Biden‘s administration is facing challenges in establishing effective means of crisis communication during "moments of unintended conflict or tension" as Team Xi remained "reluctant to engage in some of these mechanisms," reported SCMP.
Campbell’s comments came after the U.S.-China representatives hurled a series of accusations at each other at the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual defense summit in Singapore. The accusations arose after Washington criticized China for “dangerous” actions involving an American warship during a joint exercise between the U.S. and Canada in the Taiwan Strait.
Li Shangfu, the Chinese defense minister, said, "They are not here for innocent passage; they are here for provocation."
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin argued that the U.S. has a freedom of navigation policy in the region and "will not flinch in the face of bullying or coercion" while expressing "deep concerns" over the Chinese administration's unwillingness to engage in talks.
Why It Matters: Tensions between the U.S. and China have increased in the recent decade amid Biden's support for Taiwan. As per a recent report, President Biden‘s administration is pushing for a series of meetings and phone calls to make it harder for Beijing to refuse engagement. The U.S. strategy aims to ease tensions with China and label President Xi as a recalcitrant if he declines.
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