Pentagon denounces Beijing’s ‘increasingly dangerous’ actions in Asia

The US Department of Defense today denounced the “increasingly dangerous” actions of China’s military in Asia, following two incidents between the armed forces of the two countries in recent days.

“We remain concerned about the increasingly dangerous and threatening actions of the People’s Liberation Army in the region,” said Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder, who is attending a security conference in Singapore with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

The statements came after two incidents involving the US and Chinese armed forces in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.

The US Navy on Saturday accused a Chinese warship of moving “in a dangerous manner” around a US destroyer sailing through the Taiwan Strait escorting a Canadian ship.

The Chinese ship “made dangerous maneuvers near the Chung-Hoon”, the US destroyer, the US Navy complained.

The Chinese military, for its part, announced that it was monitoring the passage of the two ships through the Strait, but did not report any incident.

“The two countries are deliberately creating trouble in the Taiwan Strait, deliberately inciting danger and maliciously undermining regional peace and stability,” replied Colonel Xi Yi, a spokesman for China’s Eastern Command.

US ships regularly cross the Taiwan Strait, but rarely escort an allied ship. The last joint crossing of an American and Canadian ship was in September.

The incidents have angered China, which considers Taiwan part of its territory and claims sovereign rights in the Straits.

This is the second Sino-American incident in less than 10 days in the region.

On May 26 the pilot of a Chinese fighter jet made an “unwarranted, aggressive maneuver” near a US reconnaissance aircraft flying over the South China Sea, according to the US military.

As Beijing responded, the US aircraft “deliberately entered” China’s training zone “to carry out reconnaissance operations”.