US-China relations: Xiangshan security conference delegates suggest ways to build trust

Former Pentagon official Chad Sbragia suggests that Beijing should recognise other countries such as Japan have their own legitimate security concerns

However former Chinese officials, including an ex-ambassador to the US, have said Washington has to accept the Chinese system and ‘show mutual respect’

Reading Time:3 minutes

Chad Sbragia, former US deputy assistant secretary of defence for China, pictured at the Xiangshan Forum in Beijing. Photo: Reuters

Published: 6:18pm, 1 Nov 2023Updated: 7:10pm, 3 Nov 2023

China’s Xiangshan security conference, which finished on Tuesday, heard several suggestions from American delegates about how the two countries could improve relations and build trust in the Asia-Pacific.

During the three-day forum, the first held in person since 2019, many former officials and researchers speaking at the Beijing Xiangshan Forum focused on the main areas of disagreement such as Taiwan and the United States’ Pacific strategy.

Chad Sbragia, the former deputy assistant secretary of defence for China, said in an interview that Washington and its allies in the region should seek increased dialogue with Beijing, saying this was essential in building trust and giving China incentives to reassure its neighbours.

But he warned that it was hard for Beijing to offer credible assurances when it struggled to see the security concerns of other countries, such as Japan, as being just as valid as its own.

“The way [a conflict] gets worse is when you say: ‘Only my interest matters and none of yours are legitimate.’ That really drives security dilemmas and escalation further,” Sbragia said.

Japan has expressed concern about China’s increasing military cooperation with Russia, which has seen the two countries conduct joint patrols near Japanese territory, and its stance towards Taiwan.