US Won’t Ignore China’s Behaviour In Asia-Pacific: Pat Shanahan

Washington: In his first major public appearance in Asia, Acting US Defence Secretary Pat Shanahan said on Saturday that Washington would no longer “ignore Chinese behaviour” in the Asia-Pacific region, calling its activity a “tool kit of coercion”.

Speaking at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue security summit here, Shanahan also said that, despite Beijing’s militarization of disputed islands in the South China Sea, its alleged attempts to conduct cyber-attacks on other nations and its engagement in “predatory economics and debt-for-sovereignty deals”, he wanted a better military-to-military relationship, Efe news reported. “I think in the past people have tiptoed around” Chinese activity in the region, the Acting Defence Secretary told the audience during the question-and-answer period after his remarks. “It’s not about being confrontational. It’s about being open and having a dialogue.” In describing China during his address before defence leaders in Asia, Pat Shanahan said that “perhaps the greatest long-term threat to the vital interests of states across this region comes from actors who seek to undermine, rather than uphold, the rules-based international order”. But later in his 45-minute speech, Shanahan said there were areas where China “could still have a cooperative relationship with the US”, such as counter-piracy and enforcing UN sanctions on North Korea. A day earlier Shanahan held a 20-minute meeting with his Chinese counterpart on the sidelines of the conference. (IANS)

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