Pentagon Condemns China's "Dangerous" Actions, Beijing Remains Silent

The U.S. Department of Defense condemned the "increasingly dangerous" actions of the Chinese military in Asia today, following two incidents involving the forces of both countries in recent days. Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder, who is attending a security conference in Singapore with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, stated, "We remain concerned about the growing dangerous and coercive activities of the People's Liberation Army in the region, including in recent days." These remarks come after two incidents between U.S. and Chinese forces in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea over the past ten days. The U.S. Navy accused a Chinese ship on Saturday of dangerously zigzagging around one of its destroyers, which was navigating in the Taiwan Strait alongside a Canadian vessel. China did not mention this incident but accused the U.S. and Canada of deliberately causing "disturbances in the Taiwan Strait," which it claims sovereign rights over. Washington also accused a Chinese fighter pilot of executing an "unexplained aggressive maneuver" near a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft flying over the South China Sea on May 26. However, the Chinese military stated that the U.S. aircraft "deliberately intruded" into a Chinese military training area "for reconnaissance operations."