A top Chinese general has accused the US of trying to build an “Asia-Pacific version of Nato”, underlining tensions between Washington and Beijing one day after the two countries’ defence chiefs met for the first time since 2022 in an effort to improve military communications.
Lieutenant General Jing Jianfeng denounced the US as the “source of chaos and tension” in the Indo-Pacific and said its regional strategy aimed to “create division, provoke confrontation and undermine stability”.
Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum after US defence secretary Lloyd Austin had outlined the ways the Biden administration was working with allies to boost deterrence in the region, Jing said Washington would end up “tying the region’s countries to the US war chariot”.