Despite U.S. & Chinese Diplomatic Efforts to Reduce Tensions, Provocative Military Maneuvers by Both Sides Continue Unabated
Analysis by Michael Klare, Co-Chair, Comm. for a Sane U.S.-China Policy
At their summit meeting in San Francisco on November 15, Presidents Joe Biden of the U.S. and Xi Jinping of China agreed to temper their harsh rhetoric and seek steps to prevent the outbreak of conflict between the two countries. As indicated in the official U.S. “readout” of the meeting, the two leaders “stressed the importance of responsibly managing competitive aspects of the [U.S.-China] relationship, preventing conflict…and finding a way to live alongside each other peacefully.”
But the tally of “provocative actions” maintained by the Committee for a Sane U.S.-China Policy tells another story. As our tally indicates, both sides continue to deploy their combat ships and planes in provocative drills and maneuvers in waters around China and Taiwan. On many of these occasions, ships and planes from the opposing sides have come in close proximity to one another – often in an aggressive fashion – posing a risk of unintended clashes and explosive escalation. (To view tally, click here.)
On December 6, for example, the Chinese military said it scrambled jet fighters to warn away a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime reconnaissance aircraft as it conducted a surveillance flight over the Taiwan Strait, a body of water claimed by Beijing as part of its sovereign territory but said by the U.S. to constitute international waters.
On December 4, the Chinese military claimed that a U.S. naval vessel, the littoral combat ship USS Gabrielle Giffords, had “illegally intruded” into Chinese-claimed waters near the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, a tiny atoll claimed by both China and the Philippines. “The United States has deliberately disrupted the South China Sea, seriously violated China’s sovereignty and security [and] severely undermined regional peace and stability,” said the Chinese statement. It further noted that a Chinese naval force was mobilized to track the Giffords during the operation.
And, on November 23, the U.S. guided-missile destroyer USS Hopper conducted a so-called freedom-of-navigation mission near the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, a cluster of atolls and islets claimed by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam. According to a Chinese statement, the Chinese military deployed its naval and air forces to "track, monitor and warn away" the U.S. destroyer.
Meanwhile, China’s military – the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) – has continued its near-daily air and naval deployments in areas around Taiwan, including by sending warplanes into Taiwan’s self-declared air-defense identification zone (ADIZ) or across the median line between China and Taiwan in the Taiwan Strait. On each such occasion, Taiwan scrambles its jet interceptors to ward off the Chinese aircraft, posing a risk of collisions or unintended armed clashes.
On December 8, for example, the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense (MOD) reported that 26 PLA aircraft had been detected in the airspace around the island, 15 of which were said to have entered Taiwan’s ADIZ or crossed the median line in Taiwan Strait. On November 30, 24 PLA aircraft were spotted by the MOD in Taiwan’s surrounding airspace, with 12 crossing the median line or entering its ADIZ.
Viewed together, these highly provocative and dangerous actions do not suggest an effort by U.S. and Chinese leaders to prevent conflict and “live alongside each other peacefully.” Rather, they suggest the opposite: a determination to keep asserting their country’s military might and readiness to initiate military action at a moment’s notice. If Biden and Xi truly seek to enhance the chances for peace, they must reduce the scale and frequency of these maneuvers and take steps to prevent unintended or accidental escalation.