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Chinese military snubbed invite to defence conference, says senior US admiral
- Indo-Pacific Command chief John Aquilino tells Aspen Security Forum that the US had not received a response to the invitation to attend the event in Fiji
- China is refusing requests to resume high-level talks, with sanctions on Defence Minister Li Shangfu an ongoing source of tension
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China has ignored an invitation to attend a defence conference next month as it continues to rebuff American attempts to resume high-level dialogue between the two countries’ militaries, according to a senior US admiral.
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Admiral John Aquilino, the head of Indo-Pacific Command, told The Aspen Security Forum in Colorado that attempts to contact his People’s Liberation Army counterparts have been disregarded or declined, including a recent invitation to attend the annual chiefs of defence conference in Fiji next month, according to a Bloomberg report.
“We have invited, but we have not heard [back],” Aquilino said.
Zhou Chenming, a researcher with the Beijing-based Yuan Wang military science and technology think tank, said China had expressed concerns about Washington’s promotion of closer ties with Taiwan, work with Asian allies to contain China and increased military reconnaissance near China’s coastline.
“However, Beijing feels that Washington has turned a deaf ear to those concerns, and the US navy continues its provocation by sending aircraft to fly over the Taiwan Strait,” Zhou said, referring to the flyover of a P-8A Poseidon last week.
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“China feels disheartened because senior US officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, all claimed that they don’t want conflict between the two countries,” Zhou continued.
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