On June 4, 2023, Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu spoke at the Shangri-La Security Dialogue. The content of the speech highlights the discrepancy between the CCP’s words and deeds. (Roslan Rahman/AFP)
[The Epoch Times, June 08, 2023](Epoch Times reporter Lin Yan compiles and reports) Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu met with Japanese Defense Minister Yasuichi Hamada during the Shangri-La Security Dialogue, a rare dispute between the two countries. The Diaoyu Islands (also known as the Senkaku Islands) made cooling remarks.
“The issue of the Diaoyu Islands is not the whole of China-Japan relations,” he said in his opening remarks, referring to the Diaoyu Islands. “Both sides should consider this issue from a long-term and comprehensive perspective.”
“Nikkei Asia” columnist Katsuji Nakazawa wrote on Thursday (June 8) that Li Shangfu’s statement on the Diaoyu Islands went much further than the statements made by CCP diplomats in recent years.
“To those who have observed Sino-Japanese relations over the years, Li’s comments are a clear departure from recent policy. And they are all the more surprising that they were expressed in front of the international media,” Nakazawa wrote.
The former Nikkei China bureau chief analyzed that considering that diplomacy with Japan has always been the exclusive domain of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it is extremely unusual for a senior Chinese military officer to make such an important comment.
Li Shangfu is one of seven members of the Communist Party’s Central Military Commission. The Central Military Commission, the top decision-making body on military affairs, is headed by President Xi Jinping.
Zhongze said that it can be said that this time Li Shangfu spoke on behalf of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China.
“If this is the case, it means that Li Shangfu’s signal is far more important than the typical anti-Japanese message sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and it is more reflective of actual policy. Xi Jinping’s emphasis on the military and national security is even more telling.” Nakazawa wrote.
So what prompted Li Shangfu to make such a big statement? Nakazawa said that it is likely to be related to the worsening international situation facing the CCP, because Beijing’s isolation is on full display in Singapore, especially in the absence of Russia.
Li Shangfu refused to hold bilateral talks with U.S. Defense Secretary Austin during the Shangri-La Security Dialogue because the U.S. has not lifted sanctions against him for his involvement in illegal arms sales to Russia. The two just shook hands and talked briefly before dinner.
But Lee then held separate bilateral meetings with the defense ministers of Japan and South Korea.
That has kept Beijing on edge as Japan and South Korea offer further aid to Ukraine, Nakazawa said. Plus, Japan and South Korea are also easing their discord with each other, something Beijing is concerned about and protests against.
“If Li Shangfu also refuses to meet with the defense ministers of Japan and South Korea, then this isolation will be more obvious. So he avoided this.” Nakazawa said.
Although Li Shangfu and Austin did not meet directly, China and the United States are also believed to have engaged in some low-level contacts in Singapore to avoid conflict, he said.
Additionally, on June 5, U.S. and Chinese officials held a high-level meeting in Beijing. Daniel Kritenbrink, Assistant Secretary of State for Asia and the Pacific Affairs of the US State Department, and Sarah Beran, Senior Director for China and Taiwan Affairs of the White House National Security Council, met with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu. Both parties expressed their willingness to maintain communication.
China understands that further deterioration in relations with the United States, Japan and South Korea could seriously damage the Chinese economy, Nakazawa said. And at the end of the day, the economy is one of the most important pillars of China’s security, so the CCP will try to prevent that from happening.
He said the military diplomacy by Li Shangfu seemed to suggest that Beijing was adjusting its course. In the CCP’s strategy, the United States is the number one issue, and Japan is part of the United States‘ policy toward Beijing.
Nakazawa said that Japan is paying close attention to Li Shangfu’s military diplomacy this time, but it will not determine its strategic course change based on slight changes in China’s diplomatic language, because it is more important to observe the CCP’s actions—whether it really reduces Provocative behavior around the Diaoyu Islands.
Responsible Editor: Ye Ziwei#