US Pacific Fleet commander to attend China-hosted naval symposium: sources (2024)

Over 180 navy representatives from 29 countries will gather in China’s port city of Qingdao tomorrow for the launch of the Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS), the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has said.

Commander of the US Pacific Fleet, Admiral Stephen Koehler, will be leading the American delegation to the four-day event hosted by the Chinese navy, according to diplomatic sources.

Koehler is expected to meet “his Chinese counterparts” during the symposium, themed “Seas of Shared Future”, a diplomat with knowledge of the matter told the Post.

“Both sides are looking for more communications,” said a second diplomatic source, who also confirmed that Koehler would attend.

In response to an inquiry from the Post, a US Navy spokesman said: “[The] US Pacific Fleet is planning to participate in a multilateral military engagement that is hosted this year by the People’s Republic of China and focuses on maritime safety issues.”

This comes just four days after US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to his Chinese counterpart, Admiral Dong Jun. Tuesday’s video conference was the first US-China exchange at the defence chief level in nearly 17 months and the first since Dong was appointed to the role in December.

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Apart from the US, navy representatives attending this year will include those from Russia, Japan, Australia, Cambodia, Chile, France, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom, according to Senior Colonel Qu Tao from the office of the PLA Navy staff department.

The 19th edition of the biennial meeting comes as maritime safety risks and challenges intensify in the region.

At a press briefing in Qingdao on Saturday, Qu said the WPNS had grown into an important platform for navies of various countries to “engage in communication, enhance mutual trust and deepen cooperation”.

The Chinese navy was willing to work together with its counterparts to promote global and regional marine governance, tackle maritime safety risks and challenges, and advance the building of a marine community with a shared future, Qu said. China last hosted the WPNS in 2014.

The expected talks between the US and Chinese navy chiefs would be the latest in a series of high-level exchanges between the world’s top two military powers since a presidential summit in California in November following months of heightened tensions.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who recently met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Germany, is also expected to travel to China next week. Blinken’s trip, his second in less than a year, comes close on the heels of a visit by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

“With tensions running high in the South China Sea, Taiwan Strait and the East China Sea … this year’s symposium will also provide opportunities for countries to express their concerns and worries in the maritime field and deepen their understandings,” Zhu Feng, executive dean of Nanjing University’s School of International Studies, said.

Song Zhongping, a former PLA instructor, said new developments at sea, including the use of unmanned aerial vehicles and surface vessels for surveillance and other functions, were fuelling the need to develop more consensus on how to control or prevent unintentional collisions.

“Unmanned systems pose new challenges to the establishment of maritime safety mechanisms, highlighting potential dangers to maritime security,” Song said. “Addressing these new crises and sources of danger is key for this year’s forum, to upgrade the mechanism for unplanned encounters at sea.”

Chinese state media reported in January that countries taking part in a WPNS-related workshop had approved a proposal to discuss the formation of a working group dedicated to exploring ways to prevent drone collisions.

Analysts said the presence of Koehler highlighted the need for US-China military officials at all levels to boost exchanges and cooperation and reduce misjudgment.

Zhu at Nanjing University said the likely talks between senior Chinese and US navy officials at the WPNS could “facilitate frank dialogue across multiple levels and fields and help stabilise bilateral ties.”

Meanwhile, Song expressed hope that Koehler’s participation would not just be a “gestural move”.

“US participation at the symposium should involve concrete efforts to help cool down tensions and contribute to peace and stability in the West Pacific, rather than continually escalating provocations against China,” he said.

A string of recent face-offs between rival claimants China and the Philippines in the South China Sea have increased the visibility of the maritime dispute and analysts expect the issue to feature at the forum, though it might not be “smooth sailing”, according to Song.

“After all, some countries may not focus on the bigger picture and might have their own ulterior motives,” Song said. “From Beijing’s perspective, it will push for the conclusion of the Code of Conduct in the area to resolve the political and military tensions.”

This year’s WPNS also coincides with the 75th anniversary of the founding of the PLA Navy, which will organise a series of commemorative events from Sunday to Wednesday, a spokesman told Saturday’s press conference.

The events will be held in major navy ports including Qingdao, Dalian, Yantai, Shanghai, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Zhanjiang, Haikou and Sanya, allowing the public to board six warships, the spokesman said.

But there will be no fleet review, unlike in 2019 during commemorations for the PLA Navy’s 70th anniversary.