Li gave this warning during the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue, an international defense summit held every year in Singapore. (Related: Chinese fighter jet flies too close to US recon plane flying over South China Sea.)
"China and the U.S. have different systems and are different in many other ways. However, this shouldn't keep the two sides from seeking common ground and common interests to grow bilateral ties and deepen cooperation," suggested Li during his speech at the summit on Sunday, June 4. "It's undeniable that a severe conflict or confrontation between China and the U.S. will be an unbearable disaster for the world."
Li called on the U.S. to behave in the way China believes a superpower should behave "instead of provoking bloc confrontation for self-interest."
Li's speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue comes as he and the Chinese Communist Party snubbed calls from the U.S. for him to sit down for an official meeting with his American counterpart, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, with Beijing claiming there was "little chance of a meeting" between the two due to a spat over sanctions.
The U.S. sanctioned Li over his involvement in Chinese imports of Russian weapons in 2018, before his appointment to the Defense Ministry and while he was serving as a general of the People's Liberation Army.
Earlier in the day of the Dialogue, before Li's speech, Austin told reporters that Washington was deeply disappointed in Beijing for its lack of military communication, saying: "The more we talk, the more that we can avoid the misunderstandings and miscalculations that could lead to crisis or conflict."
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China claims it's open to dialogue, but will not budge on any issue
Ties between Washington and Beijing have been badly strained in recent years over a range of issues, including President Joe Biden's ongoing trade war over restrictions on semiconductor chip exports, the right to traverse international waters in the South China Sea and the future of the democratically governed island of Taiwan.
Li claimed during the Shangri-La Dialogue that Beijing was open to talks with the U.S. to avoid possible confrontations, calling on Washington to "take concrete action" with Beijing to avert a scenario wherein ties between the two nations might further deteriorate.
Despite this, Li took thinly veiled digs at the U.S. by claiming, without naming which countries, that certain nations were intensifying an arms race and interfering in the internal affairs of others by foisting its "rules-based international order" on others.
"[Some country] practices exceptionalism and double standards and only serves the interests and follows the rules of a small number of countries," claimed Li. He added that Beijing was "strongly opposed to imposing one's own will on others, placing one's own interests above those of others and pursuing one's own security at the expense of others."
Li also accused Washington of harboring a "Cold War mentality" and deliberately increasing the risk of conflict.
"Mutual respect should prevail over bullying and hegemony," claimed Li, who suggested that China was being victimized because its neighbors in the region are forming defense and security alliances. "In essence, attempts to push for a [North Atlantic Treaty Organization]-like [alliance] in the Asia-Pacific is a way of kidnapping regional countries and exaggerating conflicts and confrontations, which will only plunge the Asia-Pacific into a whirlpool of disputes and conflicts."
Li further suggested that Beijing will not tolerate any provocations when it comes to the issue of ownership over Taiwan or the South China Sea, both of which China claims as its sovereign territory and at the "core of China's core interests."
"Taiwan is China's Taiwan, and how to resolve the Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese to decide," said Li.
This comes as China claims the U.S. is "deliberately provoking risk" after America, along with Canada, staged a rare joint naval exercise by sailing through the Taiwan Strait, the body of water that separates the democratically governed island from the communist mainland.
The U.S. Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy conducted a "routine" transit of the strait on Saturday, June 3 by sailing two ships "through waters where high-seas freedom of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law."
This position on the Taiwan Strait is standard and mirrors America's position on the South China Sea, which is to emphasize that most of the sea is international waters and not actually the maritime territory of China.
Furthermore, Austin noted that Washington remains "deeply committed" to preserving the status quo in Taiwan and to prevent a possible invasion and forced reunification of the island with Beijing.
Learn more about the communist regime in Beijing at CommunistChina.news.
Watch this Fox News clip discussing how former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta claims Chinese President Xi Jinping "has learned a lesson from Ukraine."
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