Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun speaks during the 21st Shangri-La Dialogue Summit in Singapore on June 2, 2024.
Music Nguyen | AFP | beautiful images
SINGAPORE – Chinese Defense Minister Admiral Dong Jun has vowed that anyone who intends to separate Taiwan from China will face “self-destruction”.
Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, the admiral called on “Taiwan independence forces” to “abandon illusions and return to the correct path of unification”.
“Anyone who dares to separate Taiwan from China will only destroy themselves,” he said.
Responding to questions, Dong reiterated China’s position that Taiwan is part of China and said Beijing is committed to peaceful reunification.
Taiwan is a democratic, self-governing island and recently inaugurated a new president on May 20.
Throughout his speech and Q&A, Dong repeatedly blamed separatist forces for eroding the “One China” principle, which clearly stated Beijing’s position that it has sovereignty over China. with Taiwan. The admiral said newly elected Taiwan President Lai Ching-te made a “blatant” statement about Taiwan’s independence ambitions in his inauguration speech.
He also accused the ruling Democratic Progressive Party of trying to change the island’s constitution to “erase Chinese identity”, prevent people-to-people exchanges between Taiwan and mainland China and strengthen military capabilities. to promote independence.
For decades, Taiwan has Buy US military equipmentwith recent purchases including advanced M1A2 Abrams tanks, modernized F-16 fighter jets and long-range artillery systems.
‘External forces’
China’s Defense Minister also took aim at unnamed “external forces”, saying they support Taiwanese separatists.
“We know some major powers continue to distort the ‘One China’ principle, distort the truth and even misunderstand the resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly,” Dong said.
Without specifying any specific country, Dong also accused this power of “violating its commitments to China when we established diplomatic relations.”
“They continue to test China’s red lines, such as official engagement and arms sales to Taiwan,” he said.
“This kind of behavior sends a very wrong signal to Taiwan’s independence forces and makes them very aggressive. I think the purpose of foreign powers is clear: they try to restrain China from using Taiwan.”
The US does not have a mutual defense treaty with Taiwan and has no obligation to defend the island. But Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 — formed after the United States moved to diplomatically recognize Beijing — declared that the United States “will provide Taiwan with defense articles and defense services” if necessary to “enable Taiwan maintain sufficient self-defense capabilities.”
Although Dong devoted part of his speech to addressing China’s concerns about Taiwan, he continued to articulate those issues in his first answer during the Q&A session. When reminded by the chair of the plenary session, Bastian Giegerich from the International Institute for Strategic Studies, to answer delegates’ questions on other issues, Dong asked to end his answer on Taiwan. , describes this as “our core benefit”.
He added, “faced with the powerful People’s Liberation Army, their efforts will be futile and their efforts can only lead to a rapid collapse. [This will] only weakens the interests of the Taiwanese people. And that’s the last thing we want to see in China.”
East Sea tensions
Dong also addressed other questions, including one related to Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s comments. murdered a Filipino citizen in the East Sea would be “very close” to an act of war.
While the Defense Secretary accused the Philippines of illegally docking its landing craft on Second Thomas Shoal in 1999, he said Beijing and Manila have discussed and worked on the issue peacefully.
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Dong noted that the two countries have reached a number of agreements recognized by current and former Philippine authorities, such as allowing resupply of troops stationed on ships. Manila deploys supply missions to the shoal for a small garrison living on an old warship that was intentionally run aground in 1999 to protect Manila’s maritime claims.
“But recently, they started not realizing it [these agreements] at all. This is a unilateral refusal of their promise… I think this is the rule of extortion and robbery. We always talk about a strong international order, [but] I think this is not even morally right,” he said.
In contrast, China’s Defense Minister described the China Coast Guard’s actions as “very restrained according to our laws.”
“Our policy has been consistent for decades. We are committed to resolving disputes peacefully. But I also want to say that our tolerance for deliberate provocation will is limited.”
While delegates asked questions about other issues such as the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, Dong focused most of his answers on Taiwan and the South China Sea.
