China seeks to placate neighbours, demands respect

China on Sunday sought to ease fears about its military ambitions and demanded respect from the international community as smaller neighbours accused it of behaving like a bully in the South China Sea. Defence Minister Liang Guanglie told an annual security forum in Singapore that “democracy in international relations” and respect for “each other’s core interests” were necessary to ensure “lasting peace, harmony and stability”.

“I know many people tend to believe that with the growth of China’s economy, China will become a military threat,” said Liang, the first Chinese defence minister to attend the annual conference called the Shangri-La Dialogue. “I would like to say that it is not our option,” he said, adding that China would never “seek hegemony” or threaten any country.

Despite Liang’s focus on respect and equality, his counterparts from the Philippines and Vietnam accused China of intimidating acts in the disputed Spratly and Paracel island groups in the South China Sea. In a 45-minute speech followed by a question-and-answer session, Liang warned that countries “should not engage in any alliance targeting a third party” but did not go into detail. He denied that Beijing was behind a spate of Internet attacks on foreign targets, and echoed calls made at the Singapore conference by the United States and Britain for international talks on promoting cyber-security.

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