Worsing Relations between China and the US leads to war
Wang 22 (Amber Wang is a reporter for the China desk and formerly for the New York Times, and focuses on Chinese politics and diplomacy. 11-4-2022 “Worsening China-US relations ‘raise risk’ of conflict in Asia-Pacific” https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3198426/worsening-china-us-relations-raise-risk-conflict-asia-pacific)//BH-NB//
A senior Chinese military analyst has warned that worsening relations between China and the US are raising the risks of a maritime conflict in the Asia-Pacific region.
Yao Yunzhu, an academic committee member at Tsinghua University’s Centre for International Security and Strategy, also said the rivalry between the two countries could lead to an arms race that would undermine regional security.
She was speaking on Thursday at the two-day Symposium on Global Maritime Cooperation and Ocean Governance in the southern Chinese island province of Hainan. Researchers from 20 countries and regions attended to discuss maritime affairs and global ocean governance around the South China Sea.
“The confrontation in Sino-US relations continues to rise, so it is difficult to ignore the possibility of a maritime military conflict,” Yao said.
“[This] may be triggered by frequent encounters and accidents between naval vessels and aircraft of the two countries, and may also be triggered by challenges to China’s core interests [by the US].”
Yao, a retired army major general, said both countries were unwilling to see such a conflict and maintained a strategic communication channel to manage and prevent crises.
“But to fundamentally eliminate these risks and maintain peace and maritime security in the Asia-Pacific, China and the United States need to increase mutual trust, improve relations, and cultivate a willingness to cooperate,” she said.
Yao said the risk of an arms race between the powers with the two largest defence budgets in the world – along with increased military activities including weapons testing and exercises – would adversely affect regional maritime security.
To promote peace in the South China Sea, the symposium called for closer cooperation between Beijing and Asean countries, and progress on the negotiations for a legally binding code of conduct for the strategic waterway, one of the busiest in the world.
The code of conduct is intended to implement the principles of the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), signed by China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to provide a guideline for handling disputes.
Military tensions in the waterway have been growing between Beijing, which claims most of its waters, and Washington and its allies.