“We are concerned about China’s coercion by its neighbors in the South China Sea and East China Sea,” Burns said, adding that it is not always easy to read the motivations behind Beijing’s assertive policies or what might happen next.
“I don’t have a crystal ball, but I’ve seen consistent aggression.”
Burns added that the pattern raises questions about Beijing’s willingness to anger so many foreign nations against its own interests.
“I can’t speak for the Chinese government,” he said. “China, at least, seems very confident in its own power.”
“We’re way beyond that,” Burns said. “We haven’t changed. China has changed.”
“China is increasingly becoming a factory for the Russian war machine,” National Security Council member Daleep Singh said Thursday in a separate speech at the Center for a New American Security in Washington.
“The entire Russian economy has to be considered off-limits in terms of facilitating the flow of materials that could appear on the battlefield and be to Russia’s advantage,” Singh added.
Critics say the practice of selling goods below market price is intended to crowd out foreign competitors.
Burns said Beijing’s increasingly assertive policies are persuading more countries to build or strengthen strategic ties with the United States.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington said U.S. authorities had misunderstood the situation.
“We oppose the US’s abuse and generalization of the concept of national security, politicization and weaponization of economic and trade issues, and erecting artificial obstacles to normal economic and trade cooperation,” spokesman Liu Pengyu said.
“Looking to the future, it’s important that we do everything we can to reduce the possibility and probability of conflict,” he said. “Conflict would have devastating consequences for the entire world. That’s why militaries need to talk to each other.”
“Despite our differences, we have to talk to each other,” he added, noting that some positive developments arising from U.S.-China competition are likely to continue into the next decade. “That’s what diplomacy is all about.”
This was the first face-to-face meeting between the two countries’ defense chiefs in two years.
Moreover, although the number of Americans studying in China is still small — only 850 compared with the roughly 300,000 Chinese studying in the United States — relations between the peoples are slowly improving.
“This summit puts our relationship on a more stable footing,” US Vice National Security Advisor John Finer said separately at the CNAS event.
“But over the last 12 to 18 months, we have never let up on our competitive actions against China,” Finer added.
When Burns was at the Asia Society meeting, two protesters rose in quick succession to criticize Biden administration policies that they described as a “two-front war” against Russia and China. They were ejected.
Responding to their comments, Burns said the United States makes mistakes but, unlike other countries, allows its people to speak up and question their leaders.
Additional reporting by Bochen Han in Washington
