US-China military tensions, Russia East Sea drills, Japan’s “diplomacy first”, South Korea’s “North Korea first diplomacy”
As military tensions between the U.S. and China continue, Russia has started military exercises in the East Sea (Sea of Japan), and Japan’s defense minister said in “diplomacy priority,” South Korea said “North Korea should prioritize diplomacy.”
“More than 60 warships and support vessels, 35 naval aircraft, coastal troops and more than 11,000 military personnel are participating in the Pacific Fleet military group exercise,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said on the 5th. ", Reuters said.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J Austin said at the Shangri-La Dialogue (Asian Security Conference), "We will not be deterred by risky operations at sea or in international airspace." Dangerous interception of aircraft continues. We have all witnessed yet another troubling instance of China's aggressive and unprofessional flying," said the 4th on "military activity" by the US and allies in the seas and airspace near China. gave a speech
"We do not seek competition or conflict," said Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada. Reuters revealed that he gave a speech on the 4th with 'diplomacy first'.
Lee Jong-seop said on the 3rd, “North Korea is the only country that threatens to use nuclear weapons to preemptively attack a specific country.” He presented a 'bold idea'. Some countries are neglecting North Korea's illegal behavior that violates the 'rule-based order'," he said, addressing "North Korea should prioritize diplomacy" and "criticizing China."
Minister Lee continued, “Since the launch of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration in May of last year, the Republic of Korea has been trying to change North Korea’s wrong judgments and actions for peace on the Korean Peninsula.” We are deterring North Korean nuclear and missile threats with our capabilities.”
Bonnie Glaser, head of Indo-Pacific for Germany's Marshall Fund, said of the Shangri-La speech, "China is outraged by the increased US support, especially for Taiwan, and sees withholding talks as a way to warn the US." "It was true, and I'm not interested in risk reduction measures, because I think keeping some risk will make us more prudent," he told the NYT.
"According to the Indo-Pacific Command, a Chinese J-135 jet fighter flew dangerously close to a US Air Force RC-reconnaissance aircraft over the South China Sea," the New York Times said of Austin's speech.
A senior Pentagon official said in response to the failure of the meeting between Secretary Austin and China's Defense General Li, he said, if the meeting did happen, the risk from "unsafe and unprofessional behavior", China's increased military pressure on Taiwan, and other regional and global security issues. I was planning to talk, I told the NYT.
The official told the New York Times that a Chinese fighter jet collided with a US reconnaissance plane in Singapore, killing a Chinese pilot and forcing the US plane to land on a Chinese island where 24 crew members were detained for 11 days.
Chinese People's Liberation Army Colonel Zhao Xiaozhuo, a participant in the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, told the NYT that "US demands for 'guardrails' for military aircraft-ship encounters could be used as an excuse to legitimize US surveillance of China." "Crisis management is a good thing, but US military ships and planes are often conducting surveillance near China's coast. The US' preferred guardrail is for the US to legitimize provocative action against China," he said.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in a speech on the 4th, “We will send two warships to the Indo-Pacific in 2024.”
Commenting on the dispatch of battleships, the German Defense Minister said: "We sent frigates to the Indo-Pacific in 2021, and in 2024 we will again deploy frigates and supply ships to the region as maritime assets."
Regarding the US-China military threat, the NYT said, “The danger is concentrated in the South China Sea and Taiwan, an island of democratic rule that Taiwan is part of Chinese territory and must accept reunification.” With increasing difficulty in deterrence, many of them have significantly increased their own military budgets.”