CHINA’S Defence Minister General Li Shangfu accused the United States of provoking Beijing with its “freedom-of-navigation” patrols.

In his first international public address since becoming defence minister in March, General Li told the Shangri-La Dialogue that China doesn’t have any problems with “innocent passage” but that “we must prevent attempts that try to use those freedom-of-navigation patrols to exercise hegemony of navigation.”

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin told the same forum on Saturday that Washington would not “flinch in the face of bullying or coercion” from China and would continue regularly sailing through and flying over the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea to emphasise they are international waters.

On Saturday a US guided-missile destroyer and a Canadian frigate were intercepted by a Chinese warship as they transited the strait between Taiwan and mainland China. 

The Chinese vessel overtook the US ship and then veered across its bow at a distance of 150 yards in an “unsafe manner,” according to the US Indo-Pacific Command.

Additionally, the US has said that a Chinese J-16 fighter jet late last month “performed an unnecessarily aggressive manoeuvre” while intercepting a US Air Force spy plane over the South China Sea, flying directly in front of the plane’s nose.

Those and previous incidents have raised concerns of a possible accident occurring that could lead to an escalation between the two nations at a time when tensions are already high.

General Li suggested that the US and its allies had created the danger, and should instead focus on taking “good care of your own territorial airspace and waters.”

“The best way is for the countries, especially the naval vessels and fighter jets of countries, not to do closing actions around other countries’ territories.

“What’s the point of going there? In China we always say: ‘Mind your own business’.”

In a wide-ranging speech, General Li reiterated that Taiwan was at “the core of our core interests.”

He accused the US and others of “meddling in China’s internal affairs” by providing Taiwan with defence support and training, and conducting high-level diplomatic visits.

“China stays committed to the path of peaceful development, but we will never hesitate to defend our legitimate rights and interests, let alone sacrifice the nation's core interests,” he said.

“As the lyrics of a well-known Chinese song goes: ‘When friends visit us, we welcome them with fine wine. When jackals or wolves come, we will face them with shotguns’.”