SCIO briefing on White Paper on China's Military Strategy
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E-mail China.org.cn, May 26, 2015
CNN:
The release of the white paper is related to China's national security situation. Recently, my colleague flew over the South China Sea in a U.S. patrol plane. They heard clear warnings from the Chinese navy and saw the construction of some islands. They even saw construction of a runway. Top U.S. officials had expressed concern that these activities would affect the safety of passing planes and ships, and the U.S. military had reaffirmed that it wouldn't stop patrolling the high sea and the airspace above because of complaints from the Chinese side. If the United States refuses to stop or back off, what will China do under its current military strategy? Is a war over the South Sea China unavoidable like the Global Times put it? My second question is: as the atmosphere becomes tenser, some U.S. senators suggested stopping military cooperation with China. What influence will the current situation have on the cooperation between the Chinese and U.S. militaries?
Yang Yujun:
Your first question concerns a lot of factors. First, you mentioned our island construction in the South China Sea. You speak Chinese fluently, so you must know things about China very well. Every day, various constructions are built in various places in China. We build houses, roads and bridges and reclaim land all over the country. As far as sovereignty is concerned, the constructions on the Nansha Islands are no different. But of course, in terms of function, a building on the Nansha Islands is different from a house in a private yard or a facility in a military camp. By this, I mean that constructions on these islands must serve the needs of military defense and serve civilian needs. In particular, they will help China fulfill its international responsibilities and obligations, such as marine search and rescue, disaster prevention and reduction, marine science research, meteorological observation, environmental protection, navigation safety and fisheries service. Therefore, the activities will benefit not only China, but also the international community.
You also mentioned the frequent spying activities by U.S. military jets over the Nansha Islands. I can tell you that the Chinese military indeed has responded to the spying activities. The actions we took were in compliance with laws and codes of conduct. Now, I have a question for all of you. As you may know, the U.S. military had conducted close reconnaissance over China for a long time, and we have kept reacting in compliance with laws and codes of conduct when it has been necessary. Why has the issue been a big news story just recently, especially in the past few weeks? Did the territory of the South China Sea shrink suddenly? I'm sure the sea is as large as before, so why has the issue suddenly turned into a hot topic? Actually, there are two reasons. One is that some countries increased the frequency of spying activities, which has made the atmosphere tense. The other reason is that some people deliberately made a fuss of this issue, so as to put the blame on the Chinese military and foster a tense atmosphere. I'm sure this is not new to you, as you must have seen many similar schemes before. Now that the atmosphere has tensed up, I hope you have a clear and objective understanding of what factors contributed to it.
As for the opinion of the Global Times you just mentioned, the Foreign Ministry's spokesperson gave the press a straight answer yesterday.
Your second question is in connection with the first one. They both concern the relationship between the Chinese and U.S. militaries. In answer to this question, I can tell you that currently, the relationship between China and the United States remains good, and the two countries' militaries have agreed to establish a new model of relations. Last year, the national defense departments of the two countries signed an MOU on the Notification of the Major Military Activities Confidence-Building Measures Mechanism and an MOU on Rules of Behavior for the Safety of Air and Maritime Encounters. They will help the two militaries better understand each other's strategic intents, strengthen mutual strategic trust, manage risk and crisis, and prevent miscalculation. Of course, there are disputes and confrontations. We hope that the United States can work with us, that we can respect each other's core interests and major concerns, enhance mutual trust, intensify cooperation, properly address disputes, and effectively manage risks and crises, thus promoting the sound development of the new model of military relations. In particular, I want to make it clear that China has been striving to achieve sound interactions with the United States in the Asia Pacific region, and we hope we can work with other countries in the region to maintain regional peace, safety and stability.
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