Scholars: Sanctions against Li Shangfu are the most important obstacles to the meeting

Beijing refused to meet with the Sino -US Defense Minister this week. The US Secretary of State Broskere and Austin, who are visiting, expressed "regrettable."Austin said in Tokyo on Thursday (June 1) that any opportunity to contact Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu is welcome to believe that the National Defense Department should have an open communication channel and communicate with each other regularly.

The scholars of the interviewed evaluated that the US government's sanctions against Li Shangfu for more than four years are the most important obstacles to the meeting of the China -US defense ministers.The two core members of the Biden government called on Beijing to strengthen communication with Washington, indicating that concerns about the China and the United States may be in the region in the region.

Austin met with Japan's Defense Minister Hamada Yinichi on Thursday. He said at a press conference after the meeting that Beijing's decision to refuse to meet with the Minister of Defense "is regrettable."

Austin pointed out that he has repeatedly emphasized that countries with strong capabilities can communicate with each other to manage crisis and prevent the situation from getting out of control.

The Pentagon issued a statement on Monday that the United States wanted to promote the Shangri -La dialogue held in Singapore this week in early May this year, but China refused.

Brinken Wednesday (May 31st) reminds Beijing in Stockholm, Sweden that "the most dangerous thing is to not communicate" and therefore causes misunderstandings and poor communication.He pointed out that to ensure that the fierce competition between China and the United States will not become conflict, the most important starting point is that there are normal communication channels.

Tan Kefei, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, pointed out on Wednesday that the contact exchanges between the Chinese and American armies have not been interrupted, but emphasizing that the dialogue cannot have no principles, and communication must not have no bottom line.He criticized the difficulties faced by the current exchanges of the two armies, and the responsibility was exactly in the United States. "On the one hand, the United States has to strengthen communication, and on the other hand, regardless of China's concern for man -made obstacles."

Bao Chengke, assistant director of the Shanghai East Asian Research Institute, analyzed in an interview with the United Morning Post that the Chinese government has recently actively promoted communication with the Biden government, including resumed high -level communication between commerce and trade.He pointed out that the most critical factor that hindered the meeting of the China -US Defense Ministers this week was that the United States did not terminate the sanctions against Li Shangfu.

Li Shangfu was the Minister of Equipment Development of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China.He was sanctioned by the United States for importing Russian weapons in 2018.After Li Shangfu served as the Defense Director in March this year, the U.S. State Department stated that he had no intention of canceling sanctions, saying that this did not hinder Austin and Li Shangfu meet in a third country.

Bao Chengke believes that the sanctions on Li Shangfu are "the manifestation of the US hegemony." In this context, the Chinese Defense Minister will not have any communication with the US defense chief.It is impossible for the United States to discriminate against the Chinese Defense Minister on the one hand, and on the other hand, it is required to meet, "China cannot accept this kind of humiliation diplomacy."

Bao Chengke expects that Biden may eventually indicate that Brinken cancels sanctions to ensure that China and the United States can communicate smoothly on regional security issues and control the crisis.

On the other hand, Austin also pointed out on Thursday that the PLA's provocative behavior of intercepting US and allies' aircraft is very worrying. I hope Beijing can change their behavior to avoid leaving the situation to get out of control quickly.

The U.S. Indo -Pacific Commander announced on May 30th, referring to the PLA fighter aircraft to intercept US military aircraft over the South China Sea on May 26.

Zhang Nandong responded on Wednesday night, a spokesman for the Southern theater of the PLA, accused the United States of "completely wicked first."Zhang Nandong said that the 17th ship formation of the PLA Navy was trained in the South China Sea on the same day, and referred to that the US military reconnaissance aircraft deliberately broke into the training area reconnaissance interference.

Brinken said on Wednesday: "Chinese pilots are very very close to American planes, which is a dangerous action."He further pointed out that this just highlights that China and the United States have normal and unblocked communication channels, including communication channels between the defense of the two countries.

Ni Lexiong, an international military and diplomatic experts and a professor at Shanghai Political Science and Law School, analyzed that the United States is currently facing dilemma on the issue of sanctioning Li Shangfu. The cancellation will lose face. It will be difficult to deal with the PLA without cancellation.

Ni Lexiong's assessment is that the United States is currently anxious to maintain military contact with China. In the short term, he is still worried about the PLA Wu Tong Taiwan, transporting weapons to Moscow, and formal alliance with the Russian army.