Lloyd Austin, the first African American to serve as the U.S. secretary of defence, was eager to meet Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu at the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit on Saturday (June 3). His wishes came true – for only 10 seconds. He took the initiative to reach out to the Chinese minister where both shook hands, before Minister Li turned and left.

Austin was mad and immediately slammed China for bullying military superpower USA. He should not have greeted and shake hands, let alone wanted to meet Li so desperately. After all, it was the U.S. that has sanctioned Li. Yes, Li Shangfu has been under U.S. sanctions since 2018 over the purchase of combat aircraft and equipment from Russia’s main arms exporter, Rosoboronexport.

Beijing effectively delivered a slap in the face of Washington when the People’s Republic of China deliberately named General Li Shangfu as its Defence Minister in mid-March this year. Caught with its pants down, Washington quickly said existing sanctions on China’s new defense chief will not prevent him from conducting official meetings with his American counterparts.

General Li was sanctioned for his role related to China’s purchase of ten SU-35 fighter jets in 2017 and S-400 surface-to-air missile system-related equipment in 2018. Hilariously, the meaningless punishment saw President Joe Biden’s administration continues to seek open lines of communication with the new defence minister despite having sanctioned or banned him.

Li Shangfu could attend the Shangri-La Dialogues in Singapore without any restrictions. To prevent embarrassment, the U.S. cannot lift the sanctions on Li. At the same time, it cannot boycott the 65-year-old Chinese defence minister. Clearly, Beijing has set up the awkward situation in order to send a message – American sanctions are useless and can be easily boomerang.

But the clueless U.S. secretary of defence has another reason to call China as a bully. During the Shangri-La Dialogue, the destroyer USS Chung-Hoon and Canadian frigate HIMCS Montreal were sailing through the Taiwan Strait under the so-called freedoms of navigation when a Chinese warship boldly approached and made a crosscut, forcing the U.S. warship to slow down and change course.

Criticizing China for its “alarming number of risky intercepts of U.S. and allied aircraft” in international airspace, Austin added that the U.S. would support allies and partners against “coercion and bullying”. He was trying to lobby for support for Washington’s new plan of a “free, open and secure Indo-Pacific within a world of rules and rights” – essentially setting up “NATO-like” alliances in the Asia Pacific.

In retaliation, Beijing has accused Washington of trying to “consolidate hegemony and provoke confrontation”, especially in Taiwan. General Li has rejected Austin’s offer to meet at the summit in Singapore, citing American sanctions on Chinese officials and companies. Exactly why Austin still wanted to meet Li despite being bullied is beyond comprehension.

It was not the first time China has “bullied” the United States. About a week before the Chinese warship bullied the American and Canadian warships in the Taiwan Strait, Washington complained about an “aggressive manoeuvre” of a Chinese J-16 fighter that intercepts a U.S. spy plane – US RC-135 Rivet Joint reconnaissance aircraft – in the South China Sea.

Claiming the U.S. spy plane was conducting “safe and routine operations” in international airspace, Washington has condemned Beijing’s bullying that saw the American plane forced to fly through the wake turbulence of the intercepting Chinese aircraft. But China’s military has instead accused the U.S. spy plane of “deliberately intruding” into China’s training area.

Last year, in its complaint lodged on June 1, the Canadian Armed Forces accused Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) fighter jets of approaching and “harassing” the Canadian surveillance CP-140 Aurora plane between April 26 and May 26. The Chinese jets repeatedly buzzed Canadian plane and had flown dangerously and unprofessionally.

The Canadian Forces said Chinese fighter jets frequently fly as close as 20 to 100 feet from the Canadian plane – so close that Canadian pilots can make eye contact with the Chinese pilots. But that was not the only tensions in the air. Sometimes, Canadian pilots have complained, the Chinese pilots could be seen showing “middle fingers”.

The complaint said – “In these interactions, PLAAF aircraft did not adhere to international air safety norms. These interactions are unprofessional and/or put the safety of our RCAF personnel at risk. In some instances, the RCAF aircrew felt sufficiently at risk that they had to quickly modify their own flight path in order to increase separation and avoid a potential collision with the intercepting aircraft,”

Charles Burton, a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute in Ottawa, said – “That distance (20 to 100 feet between two planes) is scary close at those high speeds, and it could lead to disaster in a crash. You do it too much, and eventually, sometime, it’s going to go wrong”. Apparently, Canada said the incident was not the first it has experienced.

In some instances, the Canadian pilots felt the risk was too high that they had to quickly modify their own flight path in order to increase separation and avoid a potential collision with the intercepting aircraft. Ottawa has sent multiple complaints through diplomatic channel to Beijing, but China did not bother to respond and has simply ignored them.

What were America and Canada militaries doing thousands of miles away from home? It’s funny when China is called a bully for defending its territories, but the Western power was merely conducting freedom of navigations in the backyard of China. The best part was when the U.S. secretary of defence throws tantrums when the Chinese defence minister refused to meet him.

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