Inam Ansari
Hong Kong: China and the US are far apart relationally, even though the Shangri-La Dialogue -organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) from 2-4 June - is designed to bring nations together to discuss issues of strategic importance. China's refusal to accept a meeting with the US at the 2023 event in Singapore is emblematic of the troubled relationship. Instead of dialoguing, the Chinese government presented its one-sided view and told others to essentially like it or lump it. This was very obvious in the speech of General Li Shangfu, China's Minister of National Defense, who deflected blame for any responsibility, pointed fingers at others and brazenly pushed a warped worldview that only the communist masters in Beijing subscribe to. This was Li's first international engagement since being appointed to the post on 12 March, but his speech only regurgitated the party's old canards. Meanwhile, the rest of the world recognizes a growing disconnect between what China says and what it does. Li acknowledged at the IISS on 4 June, "Our world is far from tranquil, and people across the countries long for peace, development and cooperation." How ironic that Li was speaking on the 34th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, in which hundreds of peaceful Chinese protestors lost their lives in 1989, and of which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has expunged all traces from societal memory. Li asked three questions: Who is disrupting peace in the region? What are the root causes of chaos and instability? And what should we stay vigilant and guard against? On the very day Li was giving his speech, a Chinese destroyer abruptly cut off an American warship (accompanied by a Canadian one) as it transited the Taiwan St ...
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