Aggression is not in China’s genetic makeup, a high-ranking Chinese diplomat said on Tuesday in response to concerns about his country’s rapid military buildup as well as recent accusations of unsafe and unprofessional behavior by Chinese forces in the region.
Liu Jianchao, who heads the Chinese Communist Party’s International Liaison Department, was attending an event in Australia in which he said Beijing’s goal was prosperity and development.
“Aggression and expansion are not in our genes. For China to realize development, we need peace and stability, not conflict or war,” Liu said at a talk hosted by the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney.
Two weeks ago, China-Australia ties seemed to be warming following Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s visit to Beijing. The goodwill was upset when Canberra accused a Chinese destroyer of injuring Australian divers with a powerful sonar ping.
The crew of the Australian frigate HMAS Toowoomba said the Chinese warship, the Ningbo, had approached despite warnings to steer clear of the area for the divers’ safety. Canberra said the incident occurred in international waters near Japan.
“Naturally, you’ll send your ships to monitor, to identify and to do anything that could prepare any wrong happenings, or that something dangerous will happen to you,” Liu said of Australia’s hypothetical response to a Chinese naval vessel’s appearance near its shores.
Liu said that “such small instance could really escalate if it’s not properly managed.” The matter was “counterproductive” at a time when Australia-China ties were warming, he said.
In February 2022, Canberra said a Chinese navy ship operating in the Arafura Sea off Australia’s north coast directed a military-grade laser at an Australian maritime surveillance aircraft. And in June that year, a Chinese fighter jet was accused of releasing metal chaff into the engine of an Australia patrol plane in the South China Sea.
The United States has documented more than 180 instances of what it deems unprofessional intercepts of American military aircraft by Chinese planes in the past two years. Washington worries that the dangerously close encounters could lead to a miscalculation and a wider conflict.
U.S. allies Canada and the Philippines also have reported similar behavior by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.
“Maritime issues is very complicated and complex,” Liu said. There remained “different claims of the maritime rights or sovereignty, or sovereign rights,” in the East and South China seas and the Taiwan Strait, he said.
China’s sweeping claim to most of the energy-rich South China Sea has seen its coast guard and maritime militia clash with the Philippines in recent months, which the U.S. has pledged to defend in the event of an armed attack.
After its encounter with the PLA Navy in the East China Sea, the Toowoomba transited the sensitive waters of the Taiwan Strait before joining Manila’s forces for the first-ever Philippines-Australia joint patrols in the South China Sea.
Footage realised this week by the Philippines armed forces showed Chinese fighter jets circlinga Philippine plane during the three-day exercise.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.