In addition to the official statement from the Foreign Ministry denouncing U.S. Defense Secretary Hegseth’s rant against China (see related report), the Chinese representative to the event, Zhang Chi, a member of China’s National Defense University delegation, also attacked the U.S. interference in the South China Sea, and the meeting of the “Quad,” the anti-China grouping of the U.S., Japan, Australia and the Philippines.
Zhang said the Quad are engaging in division under the guise of “openness” and provoking confrontation in the name of “freedom.” “We are resolute in safeguarding our territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, and we are also working together with ASEAN countries to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea,” Zhang said.
Rear Admiral Hu Gangfeng, who leads the delegation from the National Defense University of the PLA, said at the Dialogue that the situation of maritime security in the Asia-Pacific is generally stable, adding that the region, free of maritime military conflicts for many years, is a stable part of the global landscape. However, he added, “Certain countries wantonly promote the construction of exclusive and confrontational cliques, significantly increase military presence, and frequently violate the territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests of other countries under the pretext of the so-called freedom of navigation.”
