- Inducements and intimidation help Beijing pursue its repressive vision for the region, East Asia and Pacific chief David Stilwell tells Senate committee
- But there is room for engagement with China, and US should not ‘demonise everything’ about it, Stilwell says
The top US diplomat for East Asia has accused China of influencing and intimidating countries in the Indo-Pacific to advance its agenda in the region, amid a heightened trade and strategic rivalry between Beijing and Washington.
David Stilwell, the United States' Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, testified at length on Wednesday before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee about Beijing's challenge to a "free and open order" in the Indo-Pacific region.
He cited Chinese militarisation in the South China Sea, unsustainable lending under Beijing's transcontinental infrastructure strategy the Belt and Road Initiative, and the squeezing of Taiwan's international space.
"We are especially concerned by Beijing's use of market-distorting economic inducements and penalties, influence operations, and intimidation to persuade other states to heed its political and security agenda," Stilwell said.
"Beijing's pursuit of a repressive alternative vision for the Indo-Pacific seeks to reorder the region in its favour and has put China in a position of strategic competition with all who seek to preserve a free and open order of sovereign, diverse nations."
The testimony comes with China and the US locked in a tense trade war and increasingly at odds over competing interests in Asia, including on technology, investments and maritime activities. Under US President Donald Trump's administration, Washington has hardened its stance towards confrontation with China to contain and counter its actions, with some even calling for a "decoupling" of the two countries.
On Tuesday, Cui Tiankai, China's ambassador to the US, sought to temper US concerns in a keynote address in New York, in which he focused on areas for cooperation and questioned whether a "decoupling" of the two powers was even possible.
Speaking at the Vision China event, hosted by the Bank of China and state-run newspaper China Daily, he denied that China sought to replace American hegemony.
The difference between Indo Pacific and Asia-Pacific? The US and China
"It is extremely dangerous and irresponsible to base America's policy on alarmism and label China as a strategic rival and even adversary," he said. "Please ask yourself: can a major adjustment of China policy, as touted by some people, really tip the scale in America's favour?
"Even if 'decoupling' became true someday, I don't think the US would stay safe and sound."
On Wednesday, Stilwell also chose his words carefully when referring to China, which he described as a "strategic competitor", and concerns about Chinese authoritarianism regionally and globally.
"I want to make sure that we don't demonise everything " there is room for engagement," he said. "The Trump administration has emphasised the imperative to compete with China. This does not mean we seek conflict, nor does it preclude cooperation when our interests align."
But Stilwell said this did not mean the US would avoid calling out Chinese actions, including poaching Taiwan's diplomatic partners " most recently the Solomon Islands, which cut its 36-year relationship with Taipei in favour of recognising Beijing.
He also urged greater transparency in belt and road projects, while stressing the characteristics of the US Indo-Pacific strategy: infrastructure development, promoting security alongside like-minded partners, and building the capacity for good governance by adhering to international rules and strengthening democratic institutions.
Stilwell also condemned the Chinese government for domestic repression in the western region of Xinjiang " where over 1 million mostly Muslim minorities have been imprisoned in mass internment camps, according to rights groups " as well as for religious oppression in Tibet and Hong Kong.
"As (Secretary of State Mike) Pompeo has said, the ongoing human rights crisis in China is 'truly the stain of the century'," he said. "My concern is, if there is nothing bad happening in Xinjiang, why is it so difficult to get out there and see it?"
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