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“This will be a reminder to all countries in their search for agreements with China in the future,” Admiral Phil Davidson, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, testified after the incident. According to him, this is “Another example shows that China does not respect its agreements.”
China was originally scheduled to participate in meetings between December 14-16 on the Military Maritime Consultation Agreement (MMCA) focused on maritime security.
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It is not clear why China did not attend the meeting. The Chinese military has not responded to Davidson’s comments.
The relationship between the United States and China rapidly deteriorated this year due to a variety of problems, from Beijing’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, to the United States’ support for Taiwan, telecommunications equipment maker Huawei, and Problema. From Hong Kong.
The United States has also long opposed China’s illegal expansionary territorial claims in the South China Sea and routinely sends warships through this strategic waterway.
The US military says it has been meeting with the Chinese military regularly since 1998 with the MMCA dialogues. This year’s MMCA was hosted online due to the pandemic.
“We remain committed to the MMCA and call on the Chinese armed forces to maintain an MMCA dialogue in a manner consistent with the MMCA Charter, and the goal is to dialogue on safe operations,” Said Mr. Davidson.
The MMCA is designed in part to analyze any unsafe military incidents that have occurred between US and Chinese forces, including in the South China Sea.
