During a meeting with high-level defense officials in Singapore today, the Chinese minister defended that these movements framed in a so-called “freedom of navigation” patrol are a provocation for China.

In his first public speech since becoming China’s defense minister, General Li Shangfu said at the Shangri-La summit that China has no problem with “innocent crossings”, but that one must “prevent attempts to try to use this freedom of navigation (patrols), this innocent passage, to exercise the hegemony of navigation”.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told the same forum on Saturday that Washington “would not back down in the face of ‘intimidation’ or coercion” from China and would continue to sail and regularly fly over the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, to emphasize that these are international waters, contrary to Beijing’s territorial claims.

On the same day, an American destroyer and a Canadian frigate were intercepted by a Chinese warship in the strait near the autonomous region of the island of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as Chinese territory.

The Chinese ship overtook the US vessel and overturned its bow about 140 meters away, “in a dangerous manner”, according to the US Indo-Pacific Command.

The United States added that a Chinese J-16 jet in late May “performed an unnecessarily aggressive maneuver” by intercepting a US Air Force reconnaissance aircraft in the South China Sea, flying directly ahead of the nose. from the plane.

This and other previous incidents have raised fears of a possible accident that could trigger an escalation between the two countries at a time when tension is already at high levels.

Li suggested that it was the United States and its allies who created the danger and should instead be concerned with “taking good care of their own airspace and national waters.”

“The best thing is that countries, especially ships and jets of countries, do not carry out actions near the territories of other countries,” he said, adding, “What’s the point of going there? In China, we always say ‘Mind your own business'”.

In a wide-ranging speech, Li reiterated many of Beijing’s well-known positions, including claims on Taiwan, which he called China’s “core center of interests”.

He also accused the United States and other countries of “interfering in China’s internal affairs” by providing Taiwan with defensive aid and military training and making high-level diplomatic visits.

“China remains committed to a path of peaceful development, but we will never hesitate to uphold our legitimate interests and rights, not to mention sacrifice the nation’s core interests,” Li said.

The Chinese general added a quote from a well-known Chinese song: “When our friends visit us, we welcome them with good wine. When jackals or wolves arrive, we confront them with shotguns.

On Saturday, Austin had defended the American vision of a “free, open and secure Indo-Pacific in a world of rules and rights”.